Nucleotide sequence of the Korean strain of hop stunt viroid (HSV).

Hop stunt viroid RNA (HSV) has been detected by molecular hybridization in stunted plants of the Japanese cultivar Kirin II cultivated in Korea (1,2). For propagation, the viroid was transmitted to the wild curcarbU Benincasa Mspida which developed HSV-spedfic severe growth retardation. Isolation, purification, reverse transcription of the viroid-RNA with aid of viroid-specific primers, and sequence analysis of the corresponding cDNA fragments according to the method of Maxam and Gilbert were performed as previously described (2).