In Kenya around Lake Victoria rice is affected by a hitherto undescribed virus for which the name Rice Yellow Mottle Virus (RYMV) is proposed. The virus was easily transmitted mechanically to rice and to Oryza barthii and Oryza punctata, but not to Oryza eichingeri, barley, bulrush millet, durum wheat, finger millet, maize, oats, rye, sorghum, wheat, sugarcane, 20 other monocotyledonous and 9 dicotyledonous plant species.The disease is characterised by stunting and reduced tillering of the rice plant, crinkling, mottling and yellowish streaking of the leaves, malformation and partial emergence of the panicles, and sterility. In severe cases the plant may die. RYMV is stable and highly infective.The vector is the beetle Sesselia pusilla Gerstaeker (fam. Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae). The beetle has been identified by Mr John A. Wilcox, New York State Museum and Science Service, New York. S. pusilla transmitted the virus for at least five successive days after feeding on an infective plant.Purified virus preparations consisted of polyhedral particles about 32 m/x in diameter. The sedimentation coefficient was 116S.

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