Three virus isolates from maize with rough dwarf in different provinces in China were analyzed at the molecular level. When compared to an isolate from diseased rice plants in Hubei Province, all four isolates had identical genomic RNA electrophoretic profiles, which were composed of ten double-stranded (ds) RNAs. Full-length cDNAs of segment 10 (S10) from each of the four isolates were cloned by RT-PCR and the complete sequences were determined. Analysis of the sequences revealed that each consisted of 1801 nucleotides and contained a single open reading frame (ORF) which potentially encoded a protein with 558 amino acids. Further, the sequences showed more than 97.0% and 98.0% identity at nucleotide and amino acid levels, respectively. In addition, their identities to rice black-streaked dwarf virus S10 were significantly higher than those to maize rough dwarf virus S10. Based on these results, it is suggested that the virus which causes this maize disease in China is rice black-streaked dwarf virus.