Changes in the species and quantity of mRNA isolated from the leaves of uninfected and Fiji disease fijivirus-infected sugarcane cultivar NCo310 were analysed using the technique of differential display. Differentially expressed mRNA species were isolated, cloned into pGEMTEasy and sequenced. Preliminary results of database searches indicate that many of the sugarcane cDNAs share significant similarity with ESTs identified in pathogen and water-stress trials in other plant species.