title: Evidence for negative-strand RNA virus infection in fungi.
abstract: Fungal viruses comprise two groups: a major group of five families with double-stranded RNA genomes and a minor group with positive-sense single-stranded (ss)RNA genomes. Although many fungal viruses have been identified, no negative-stranded (-)ssRNA mycoviruses have been reported. Here we present two lines of evidence suggesting the presence of (-)ssRNA viruses in filamentous fungi based on an exhaustive search using extant (-)ssRNA viruses as queries. This revealed (-)ssRNA virus L protein-like sequences in the genome of a phytopathogenic obligate ascomycete, Erysiphe pisi. A similar search for (-)ssRNA viruses in fungal transcriptome shotgun assembly libraries demonstrated that two independent libraries from Sclerotinia homoeocarpa, another phytopathogenic ascomycete, contained several sequences considered to correspond to the entire mononegavirus L gene and likely originating from an infecting (-)ssRNA virus. These results provide strong evidence for both ancient and extant (-)ssRNA virus infections in fungi.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Science and Resources, Okayama University, Kurashiki 710-0046, Japan. hkondo@rib.okayama.u-ac.jp
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.forename: Sotaro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chiba
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Toyoda
authors.forename: Nobuhiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Suzuki
mesh_terms: D001203:Ascomycota / Q000821:virology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D005658:Fungi / Q000821:virology; D016679:Genome, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012328:RNA Viruses / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D059467:Transcriptome; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins