Viroids are unique systems for the study of RNA structure, function and evolution. They are the minimal RNA replicons characterized so far their genome is ten-fold smaller than that the smallest known ...

This article is part of a series on viroids. The first, which can be read here, gave an overview of what viroids are and how they replicate. The second article described the plant host range of ...

During 1970 and 1971, I discovered that a devastating disease of potato plants is not caused by a virus, as had been assumed, but by a new type of subviral pathogen, the viroid. Viroids are so small — ...

Viroid replication generates dsRNA intermediates, which are processed by Dicer into 21- to 25-nucleotide siRNAs. These siRNAs are then incorporated into siRNA – ribonuclease complexes (RISC). If the ...

Viroids are closed circles of ribonucleic acid (RNA) that replicate at a very low level using host cell enzymes, since they do not usually encode proteins. The existence of over ten thousand viroids, ...

This story is part of a larger series on viroids and virusoids, small infectious RNAs. It is also the sixth installment in a series on hepatitis D virus, a virusoid-like pathogen that causes serious ...