You will be given a definition of a task first, then some input of the task.
Given a question and a context passage, generate the answer having the word or phrase from the context passage. Here, the answer should be a shortest continous span from the passage.

Context: Research during the last 15 years has conclusively shown that viroids are not only fundamentally different from viruses at the molecular level, but that they are most likely not directly related to viruses in an evolutionary sense. Today, viroids are among the most thoroughly studied biological macromolecules. Their molecular structures have been elucidated to a large extent, but much needs to be learned regarding the correlation between molecular structure and biological function. The availability of the tools of recombinant DNA technology in viroid research promises rapid progress in these areas of inquiry.
Question: Which are the smallest known subviral pathogens of plants?
Output:
viroids