Dothistroma septosporum and Dothistroma pini, the causal agents of Dothistroma needle blight, are infected by multiple viruses

Dothistroma septosporum and Dothistroma pini are severe foliar pathogens of conifers. They infect a broad spectrum of hosts (mainly Pinus spp.), causing chlorosis, defoliation of needles, and eventually the death of pine trees in extreme cases. Mycoviruses represent a novel and innovative avenue for...

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Main Authors: Miloš Trifković, Ondřej Hejna, Anna Kuznetsova, Martin Mullett, Libor Jankovský, Leticia Botella
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:Virus Research
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168170224001692
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author Miloš Trifković
Ondřej Hejna
Anna Kuznetsova
Martin Mullett
Libor Jankovský
Leticia Botella
author_facet Miloš Trifković
Ondřej Hejna
Anna Kuznetsova
Martin Mullett
Libor Jankovský
Leticia Botella
author_sort Miloš Trifković
collection DOAJ
description Dothistroma septosporum and Dothistroma pini are severe foliar pathogens of conifers. They infect a broad spectrum of hosts (mainly Pinus spp.), causing chlorosis, defoliation of needles, and eventually the death of pine trees in extreme cases. Mycoviruses represent a novel and innovative avenue for controlling pathogens. To search for possible viruses hosted by Dothistroma spp. we screened a subset of isolates (20 strains of D. septosporum and one D. pini) originating from the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Italy, Austria and Ireland for viral dsRNA segments. Only five of them showed the presence of dsRNA segments. A total of 21 fungal isolates were prepared for total RNA extractions. RNA samples were pooled, and two separate RNA libraries were constructed for stranded total RNA sequencing. RNA-Seq data processing, pairwise sequence comparisons (PASC) and phylogenetic analyses revealed the presence of thirteen novel putative viruses with varying genome types: seven negative-sense single-stranded RNA viruses, including six bunya-like viruses and one new member of the order Mononegavirales; three positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses, two of which are similar to those of the family Narnaviridae, while the genome of the third correspond to those of the family Gammaflexiviridae; and three double-stranded RNA viruses, comprising two novel members of the family Chrysoviridae and a potentially new species of gammapartitivirus. The results were confirmed with RT-PCR screening that the fungal pathogens hosted all the viruses and showed that particular fungal strains harbour multiple virus infections and that they are transmitted vertically. In this study, we described the narnavirus infecting D. pini. To our knowledge, this is the first virus discovered in D. pini.
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spelling doaj-art-7ca02ba4fdab481c8b7c8a37c433632a2024-12-19T10:52:16ZengElsevierVirus Research1872-74922024-12-01350199476Dothistroma septosporum and Dothistroma pini, the causal agents of Dothistroma needle blight, are infected by multiple virusesMiloš Trifković0Ondřej Hejna1Anna Kuznetsova2Martin Mullett3Libor Jankovský4Leticia Botella5Department of Forest Protection and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic; Corresponding author.Department of Genetics and Agricultural Biotechnology. Faculty of Agriculture and Technology, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Czech RepublicDepartment of Forest Protection and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Czech RepublicDepartment of Forest Protection and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Czech RepublicDepartment of Forest Protection and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Czech RepublicDepartment of Forest Protection and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Czech RepublicDothistroma septosporum and Dothistroma pini are severe foliar pathogens of conifers. They infect a broad spectrum of hosts (mainly Pinus spp.), causing chlorosis, defoliation of needles, and eventually the death of pine trees in extreme cases. Mycoviruses represent a novel and innovative avenue for controlling pathogens. To search for possible viruses hosted by Dothistroma spp. we screened a subset of isolates (20 strains of D. septosporum and one D. pini) originating from the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Italy, Austria and Ireland for viral dsRNA segments. Only five of them showed the presence of dsRNA segments. A total of 21 fungal isolates were prepared for total RNA extractions. RNA samples were pooled, and two separate RNA libraries were constructed for stranded total RNA sequencing. RNA-Seq data processing, pairwise sequence comparisons (PASC) and phylogenetic analyses revealed the presence of thirteen novel putative viruses with varying genome types: seven negative-sense single-stranded RNA viruses, including six bunya-like viruses and one new member of the order Mononegavirales; three positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses, two of which are similar to those of the family Narnaviridae, while the genome of the third correspond to those of the family Gammaflexiviridae; and three double-stranded RNA viruses, comprising two novel members of the family Chrysoviridae and a potentially new species of gammapartitivirus. The results were confirmed with RT-PCR screening that the fungal pathogens hosted all the viruses and showed that particular fungal strains harbour multiple virus infections and that they are transmitted vertically. In this study, we described the narnavirus infecting D. pini. To our knowledge, this is the first virus discovered in D. pini.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168170224001692Dothistroma needle blight (DNB)Conifer pathogensVirus diversityTotal RNA sequencingHigh-throughput sequencing
spellingShingle Miloš Trifković
Ondřej Hejna
Anna Kuznetsova
Martin Mullett
Libor Jankovský
Leticia Botella
Dothistroma septosporum and Dothistroma pini, the causal agents of Dothistroma needle blight, are infected by multiple viruses
Virus Research
Dothistroma needle blight (DNB)
Conifer pathogens
Virus diversity
Total RNA sequencing
High-throughput sequencing
title Dothistroma septosporum and Dothistroma pini, the causal agents of Dothistroma needle blight, are infected by multiple viruses
title_full Dothistroma septosporum and Dothistroma pini, the causal agents of Dothistroma needle blight, are infected by multiple viruses
title_fullStr Dothistroma septosporum and Dothistroma pini, the causal agents of Dothistroma needle blight, are infected by multiple viruses
title_full_unstemmed Dothistroma septosporum and Dothistroma pini, the causal agents of Dothistroma needle blight, are infected by multiple viruses
title_short Dothistroma septosporum and Dothistroma pini, the causal agents of Dothistroma needle blight, are infected by multiple viruses
title_sort dothistroma septosporum and dothistroma pini the causal agents of dothistroma needle blight are infected by multiple viruses
topic Dothistroma needle blight (DNB)
Conifer pathogens
Virus diversity
Total RNA sequencing
High-throughput sequencing
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168170224001692
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