Screening of some plant pathogenic fungi for the presence of dsRNA mycoviruses

Abstract

Mycoviruses can infect many fungi and some may cause hypovirulence, which is a common phenomenon used in the biological control of certain fungal diseases of the plants. The most successful example regarding the use of mycoviruses and hypovirulent strains in biological control is the chestnut blight. In this study, the isolates of fungi, namely Phomopsis viticola from grapevine, Verticillium dahliae from cotton and olive, Rhizoctonia solani from cotton and Leucostoma spp., from cherry were screened for the presence of dsRNA mycoviruses. Isolation of dsRNAs was performed and dsRNA bands were analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis. Putative dsRNA bands were detected in eight of 80 P. viticola isolates from grapevine, one of 50 V. dahliae isolates from olive, three of 50 V. dahliae isolates from cotton, six of 50 R. solani isolates from cotton and three of 50 Leucostoma spp., isolates from cherry. The estimated molecular sizes of the dsRNAs ranged from approximately 12.0 to 20.0 kb.