A hypothesis of mycovirus ecology: Can mycoviruses be transmitted between different fungal species?

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25660039
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Plant protection science
• Research Institution: National Agriculture and Food Research Organization
• Principal Investigator: KANEMATSU Satoko 独立行政法人農業・食品産業技術総合研究機構, 果樹研究所リンゴ研究領域, 主任研究員 (40355433)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): YAEGASHI Hajime 独立行政法人農業・食品産業技術総合研究機構, 果樹研究所リンゴ研究領域, 主任研究員 (90582594)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: マイコウイルス / 植物病原糸状菌

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In general, RNA mycoviruses (fungal viruses) are transmitted through hyphal anastomosis between mycelially compatible fungal strains, and their intracellular life cycle within the host limits transmission to different species and even to incompatible strains of the same species. However, in our field observations, we found a novel virus appeared in the ascomycetous fungus, Rosellinia necatrix, in an apple orchard. This finding suggests diverse infection routes for mycoviruses. In this study, we show that mycoviruses can infect R. necatrix through the soil under green-house conditions. After incubating virus-free R. necatrix strains in soil-filled buckets, R. necatrix sub-isolates were obtained, and the presence of viral dsRNAs was confirmed in the sub-isolates using dot-blot hybridization with an anti-dsRNA antibody. Sequencing analyses revealed that the viruses in the R. necatrix sub-isolates were novel partitivirus and endornavirus.

Free Research Field

植物病理学