Ricesheathblight,causedbyRhizoctoniasolani(Kühn),isanotorioussoil-bornediseaseprevalentinmanyrice-growingregions.AlthoughseveralsporadicstudiesofmycovirusesinR.solaniAG-1IAhavebeenreportedforsinglestrainofR.solaniAG-1IA,therehavebeennoreportsdescribingthedistributionandpersityofmycovirusesinnaturalpopulations.Inthisstudy,43R.solaniAG-1IAstrainscollectedfromdifferentlocationsinChinawereexaminedforthepresenceofdsRNAelementstoconfirmthepresenceofviralinfections.Electrophoretypesshowedthat16ofthe43fungalstrains(37.2%)containeddsRNAsthatcanbecharacterizedasviruses.Furthermore,thespecies-specificreversetranscriptionPCR(RT-PCR)showeddsRNAbandswithsimilarsizesdonotalwayscontainthesamevirusbutexistasmixedmycoviralinfections.Thus,ourfindingsindicatemycovirusesinfectingR.solaniAG-1IAinChinaareperse,widespreadanduniversal.
