Whole-Genome Sequence Analysis of Rice Hoja Blanca Virus from the US
Hoja Blanca, caused by the Rice hoja blanca virus (RHBV), is one of the major viral diseases affecting rice (Oryza sativa L.) production in Central and South America and the Caribbean. The virus is transmitted by the rice delphacid Muir. The disease was first reported in Colombia in 1935 and has since been reported throughout Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. To date, only one complete genome sequence of RHBV, originally from Colombia, has been reported in the literature. In this study, we aimed to generate the whole-genome sequences of two RHBV isolates: 25-TX1 (Wharton County, Texas) and 25-TX2 (Jefferson County, Texas), collected from the symptomatic rice plants in Texas and to compare them with the previously reported Colombia RHBV isolate.