Isolation of a Viroid-like RNA from Hop Different from Hop Stunt Viroid

Abstract

A viroid-like RNA was detected in nucleic acid preparations from two of the three commercial hop varieties grown in Spain. It had a size very close to that of avocado sunblotch viroid (ASBV), although dot-blot analysis revealed that it was very different in base sequence from ASBV, coconut cadang-cadang viroid, hop stunt viroid (HSV) and citrus exocortis viroid. In its physical and biological properties, the viroid-like RNA differed from the previously characterized HSV.