Totivirus-satellite coinfection prevalence and host genotype associations in wild Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

ABSTRACT: Saccharomyces cerevisiae is occasionally infected by dsRNA totiviruses and their toxin-encoding dsRNA satellite nucleic acids. The autonomous totivirus and its satellite can coexist but with an asymmetric dependence of the satellite on the totivirus for replication and maintenance inside the host cell. Satellites provide their yeast hosts with inhibitory toxins and the necessary self-immunity; loss of the satellite equates to loss of toxin immunity. Because these viral elements lack known extracellular stages, and sex is suspected to be rare, they are assumed to be transmitted vertically, implying that infection states should correlate with host genotypes. However, totivirus-satellite coinfections are rarely examined in natural populations, leaving their associations with host genotypes po

SUBMITTER: Travers-Cook TJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12683246 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature