Rice ragged stunt virus Rice ragged stunt virus Rice ragged stunt virus (RRSV) is a plant pathogenic virus of the family Reoviridae. RRSV, vectored by the brown planthopper (BPH) (Delphacidae: "Nilaparvata lugens"), causes ragged stunt disease of rice ("Oryza" spp., especially "Oryza sativa"). The virus, first described by Hibino, Ling and Shikata, is also less commonly known as rice infectious gall virus. RRSV has polyhedral particles about 50 nm in diameter possessing spikes (and perhaps a complete outer shell) to a diameter of 65 nm. The particles contain double-stranded RNA in eight segments. RRSV can only infect plants in the family Gramineae, i.e. grasses
Helitron (biology) Helitron (biology) Helitrons are one of the three groups of eukaryotic class 2 transposable elements (TEs) so far described. They are the eukaryotic rolling-circle transposable elements which are hypothesized to transpose by a rolling circle replication mechanism via a single-stranded DNA intermediate. They were first discovered in plants ("Arabidopsis thaliana" and "Oryza sativa") and in the nematode "Caenorhabditis elegans", and now they have been identified in a diverse range of species, from protists to mammals. Helitrons make up a substantial fraction of many genomes where non-autonomous elements frequently outnumber the putative autonomous partner. Helitrons seem to have a major role