The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) recently accepted
Endornavirus as a new genus of plant dsRNA virus. We have determined the partial nucleotide sequences of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase
regions from the large dsRNAs (about 14 kbp) isolated from barley (
Hordeum vulgare), kidney bean (
Phaseolus vulgaris), melon (
Cucumis melo), bottle gourd (
Lagenaria siceraria), Malabar spinach (
Basella alba), seagrass (
Zostera marina), and the fungus
Helicobasidium mompa. Phylogenetic analyses of these seven dsRNAs indicate that these dsRNAs are new members of the genus
Endornavirus that are widely distributed over the plant and fungal kingdoms.