Sequence of Echinochloa hoja blanca tenuivirus RNA-3

Analysis of the sequence of the 2336 nucleotide RNA-3 of Echinochloa hoja blanca tenuivirus shows that it is closely related to RNA-3 of rice hoja blanca tenuivirus, the principal virus disease of rice in Latin America. This is especially true for the coding regions, where the viruses are almost 90% similar. However, the non-coding regions of RNA-3 of these viruses, principally the intergenic region separating the two ambisense open reading frames, are only about 50% similar, suggesting that these are distinct viruses. The results closely resemble those obtained for the analysis of RNA-4 of these viruses, both in the absolute and relative percentage similarities of the coding and non-coding regions. This implies a coordinated evolution of the different tenuivirus RNA segments. The features of the RNA and the comparisons with the sequences of RNA-3 of RHBV, rice stripe virus (RStV) and maize stripe virus (MStV) are discussed.