A Novel Mycovirus Evokes Transcriptional Rewiring in the Fungus Malassezia and Stimulates Beta Interferon Production in Macrophages.

ABSTRACT: Mycoviruses infect fungi, and while most persist asymptomatically, there are examples of mycoviruses having both beneficial and detrimental effects on their host. Virus-infected Saccharomyces and Ustilago strains exhibit a killer phenotype conferring a growth advantage over uninfected strains and other competing yeast species, whereas hypovirus-infected Cryphonectria parasitica displays defects in growth, sporulation, and virulence. In this study, we identify a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) mycovirus in five Malassezia species. Sequence analysis reveals it to be a totivirus with two dsRNA segments: a larger 4.5-kb segment with genes encoding components for viral replication and maintenance, and a smaller 1.4-kb segment encoding a novel protein. Furthermore, transc

SUBMITTER: Applen Clancey S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7468202 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature