Multiple introductions and recombination in Cryphonectria hypovirus 1: perspective for a sustainable biological control of chestnut blight.

ABSTRACT: Cryphonectria hypovirus 1 (CHV1) is a mycovirus which decreases the virulence of its fungal host Cryphonectria parasitica, the causal agent of chestnut blight recently introduced in Europe. The understanding of the evolutionary processes which have shaped CHV1 populations in Europe is required to develop a sustainable biocontrol strategy targeting chestnut blight and effective in European chestnut forests. To retrace the evolutionary history of CHV1, we analyzed sequences from two genomic regions on a collection of 55 CHV1 strains from France and northern Spain, two countries where multiple introductions of C. parasitica occurred. Several recombination events and variable selection pressures contributed to CHV1 evolution, agreeing with a non-clock-like diversification rate. These two mecha

SUBMITTER: Feau N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4055179 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature