What is Hop Latent Viroid and How Did It Cause $4 Billion in Losses for the Marijuana Industry?

The Hop Latent Viroid, also known as HpLVd is a single-stranded infection that depends on the metabolism of its host plant to replicate itself. This Viroid happens globally in “Hops” and can infect the hop’s relative, which is the cannabis plant.  The Viroid is also an infectious pathogen that causes diseases in the marijuana plant. It is often referred to as “Dudding disease,” and sometimes the infected plants are initially asymptomatic (doesn’t show symptoms). This infection can also be dormant in plants for an extended period, and eventually, the symptoms become evident.