Insight into mycoviruses infecting Fusarium species

Abstract

Most of the major fungal families including plant-pathogenic fungi, yeasts, and mushrooms are infected by mycoviruses, and many double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) mycoviruses have been recently identified from diverse plant-pathogenic Fusarium species. The frequency of occurrence of dsRNAs is high in Fusarium poae but low in other Fusarium species. Most Fusarium mycoviruses do not cause any morphological changes in the host but some mycoviruses like Fusarium graminearum virus 1 (FgV1) cause hypovirulence. Available genomic data for seven of the dsRNA mycoviruses infecting Fusarium species indicate that these mycoviruses exist as complexes of one to five dsRNAs. According to phylogenetic analysis, the Fusarium mycoviruses identified to date belong to four families: Chrysoviridae, Hypoviridae, Partitiviridae, and Totiviridae. Proteome and transcriptome analysis have revealed that FgV1 infection of Fusarium causes changes in host transcriptional and translational machineries. Successful transmission of FgV1 via protoplast fusion suggests the possibility that, as biological control agents, mycoviruses could be introduced into diverse species of fungal plant pathogens. Research is now needed on the molecular biology of mycovirus life cycles and mycovirus-host interactions. This research will be facilitated by the further development of omics technologies.