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- Title
The presence of mycoviral infection attenuates the growth and pathogenicity of the phytopathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea collected from strawberry fields in Pakistan.
- Authors
Ahmed, Aqeel; Khan, Haris Ahmed; Jamal, Atif; Baig, Danish Ilyas; Fatma, Tehsin; Virk, Nasar; Bhatti, Muhammad Faraz
- Abstract
Botrytis cinerea is a phytopathogenic fungus that belongs to the family Sclerotiniaceae in the Ascomycota group. This pathogen infects economically important crops and is responsible for substantial preharvest and postharvest losses each year worldwide. Mycoviruses are commonly associated with Botrytis cinerea isolates. In this work, we report the hypovirulence potential of an endornavirus harboured by the Kst31c isolate of Botrytis cinerea collected from a strawberry field in Pakistan. Our analysis revealed the presence of a positive-sense single-stranded RNA (+ ssRNA) mono-segmented virus in this isolate. Next-generation sequencing of total RNA harvested from Kst31c revealed the presence of an endornavirus with a genome length of 13,765 nt comprising a single open reading frame (ORF) encoding a polyprotein of 4,546 amino acids. The identified polyprotein includes four conserved domains: a viral methyltransferase, an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 2, and the two putative viral helicases (DExDc-like and Hel-1). No cysteine-rich regions were identified in this virus. Phylogenetic analysis placed it in a clade within the genus Betaendornavirus. The current virus was tentatively named Botrytis cinerea endornavirus 4 (BcEV4). A comparison of virus-free and virus-infected isogenic lines showed that BcEV4 was associated with hypovirulence, slow growth, and altered phenotype. Furthermore, these results were also confirmed by pathogenicity testing via an apple assay. The virus can be tested as a potential biocontrol agent against Botrytis cinerea infections.
- Subjects
PAKISTAN; FUNGAL viruses; BOTRYTIS cinerea; RNA replicase; PHYTOPATHOGENIC fungi; RNA polymerase II; STRAWBERRIES; NUCLEOTIDE sequencing; BIOLOGICAL pest control agents
- Publication
European Journal of Plant Pathology, 2023, Vol 167, Issue 1, p133
- ISSN
0929-1873
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s10658-023-02689-w