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Abstract
Approximately 25 species of Hydrangea, often grown for cut flowers and landscaping, are widely distributed in Asia, the Americas, Europe, and South Africa and can be affected by multiple viruses. To identify any viruses affecting hydrangea populations in South Korea, we analyzed symptomatic samples from three different regions in South Korea using RT-PCR and sequenced the amplified products. From the 211 hydrangea plants sampled with virus-like symptoms such as chlorotic mottle, chlorotic and brown spots on the leaves and distortion of leaves, hydrangea ringspot virus (HdRSV) was found in 33 plants, and hydrangea chlorotic mottle virus (HdCMV) was detected in 10; two plants were co-infected with HdRSV and HdCMV. The coat proteins of HdRSV and HdCMV had the greatest amino acid sequence homology to HdRSV Hyd-CZ (98.7 % identity, GenBank accession GQ265901) and HdCMV-US (97.9 % identity, GenBank accession DQ412999), respectively. To our knowledge, this study is the first report of HdRSV and HdCMV infection in hydrangea plants in South Korea.