When leaves infected with pangola stunt virus (PaSV) were dried at 23, 37, 50, 70 or 105 degrees C, the dsRNA was stable and could be extracted after aerobic storage at room temperature for 1 month, although at 105 degrees C the amount obtained was reduced. The dsRNA was also recovered after leaves were freeze dried and stored in vacuo at room temperature for 6 months, or were dried and stored aerobically at room temperature for 10.5 months. dsRNA of sugarcane Fiji disease virus (FDV) was also stable when infected leaves were dried at 23, 37, 50 or 105 degrees C and stored aerobically for 3 months or for at least 6 months when infected leaves were dried at 70 degrees C. The unexpected high stability and extractability of both PaSV and FDV dsRNA when dried in leaves at low or high temperatures and stored at room temperature indicate that these, and probably other plant-infecting reoviruses, can be transported readily in desiccated host tissue between different countries for later extraction and comparison of their dsRNAs.