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As with viruses, viroids infect their hosts as polymorphic populations of variants. Identifying possible sources of genetic variability is significant in the case of the species Citrus dwarfing viroid (CDVd) which has been proposed as a dwarfing agent for high-density citrus plantings. Here, a natural CDVd isolate (CMC) was used as an inoculum source for long-term (25 years) and short-term (1 year) bioassays in different citrus host species. Characterization of progenies indicated that the genetic stability of CDVd populations was high in certain hosts (trifoliate orange, Troyer citrange, Etrog citron, Navelina sweet orange), which preserve viroid populations similar to the original CMC isolate even after 25 years. By contrast, CDVd variant populations in Interdonato lemon and Volkamer lemon were completely different to those in the inoculated sources, highlighting how influential the host is on the genetic variability of CDVd populations. Implications for risk assessment of CDVd as a dwarfing agent are discussed.
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