Abstract
Sclerotinia minor is a phytopathogenic fungus causing sclerotinia blight on many economically important crops. Here, we have characterized the biological and molecular properties of a novel endornavirus, Sclerotinia minor endornavirus 1 (SmEV1), isolated from the hypovirulent strain LC22 of S. minor. The genome of SmEV1 is 12,626 bp long with a single, large open reading frame (ORF), coding for a putative protein of 4020 amino acids. The putative protein contains cysteine-rich region (CRR), viral methyltransferase (MTR), putative DEXDc, viral helicase (Hel), and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) domains. The putative protein and the conserved domains are phylogenetically related to endornaviruses. SmEV1 does not contain a site-specific nick characteristic of most previously described endornaviruses. Hypovirulence and associated traits of strain LC22 and SmEV1 were readily cotransmitted horizontally via hyphal contact to isolates of different vegetative compatibility groups of S. minor. Additionally, SmEV1 in strain LC22 was found capable of being transmitted vertically through sclerotia. Furthermore, mycelium fragments of hypovirulent strain LC22 have a protective activity against attack by S. minor. Taken together, we concluded that SmEV1 is a novel hypovirulence-associated mycovirus with a wide spectrum of transmissibility, and has potential for biological control (virocontrol) of diseases caused by S. minor.
Highlights
Mycoviruses or fungal viruses are viruses that can infect fungi and Oomycetes, and can replicate in these organisms [1]
Based on phylogenetic analysis of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) and genome organization, Sclerotinia minor endornavirus 1 (SmEV1) belongs to the subclade B group in the clade of endornaviruses
The SmEV1 horizontal transmission experiments showed that hypovirulence and associated decline characteristics of strain LC22 and
Summary
Mycoviruses or fungal viruses are viruses that can infect fungi and Oomycetes, and can replicate in these organisms [1]. They exist in all major taxonomic groups of fungi and Oomycetes [2]. Previous studies showed that most mycoviruses have little or no detectable effects on the morphology and/or physiology of their hosts, and this kind of infection is usually called cryptic (or latent) infection [1]. A few mycoviruses do have evident effects on the morphology and/or physiology of their hosts. The beneficial effects on the hosts include increase of virulence (hypervirulence) in some plant pathogenic fungi or oomycetes [3,4], and improvement of competitive ability of some yeasts by producing killer proteins [5]
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