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Tracking of Tobacco Mosaic Virus in Taxonomically Different Plant Fungi

Summary

Scientists discovered that tobacco mosaic virus can infect and replicate inside some fungal pathogens like Botrytis and Verticillium, which are major crop diseases. Interestingly, when viruses infect these fungi, the fungi activate their own defense mechanisms to fight the virus, yet still maintain their ability to cause disease in plants. This discovery opens new possibilities for using plant viruses as tools to study and potentially control harmful fungal pathogens on crops.

Background

Plant viruses have traditionally been considered pathogens restricted to plant hosts. Recent studies have shown that some plant viruses can infect and replicate in filamentous fungi and oomycetes, suggesting broader host ranges and more complex ecological interactions than previously understood.

Objective

To investigate the ability of Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV) to replicate in four major phytopathogenic fungi from different taxonomic groups: Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici, Verticillium dahliae, and Monilinia fructicola, and to explore the role of RNA interference in these cross-kingdom interactions.

Results

TMV successfully entered, replicated, and persisted in mycelia of B. cinerea and V. dahliae but not in F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici or M. fructicola. TMV infection activated strong RNAi responses with upregulation of Dicer-like 1 and Argonaute 1 genes in both susceptible fungi. Despite viral replication and RNAi activation, the virulence of infected fungi on respective host plants remained unaffected.

Conclusion

This study demonstrates cross-kingdom virus transmission and interactions between plant viruses and fungal pathogens. The findings suggest that plant viruses like TMV could serve as tools for functional genomic studies in fungi and provide insights into RNAi mechanisms, with implications for understanding pathogen ecology and developing novel disease management strategies.
  • Published in:Journal of Fungi (Basel),
  • Study Type:Experimental Study,
  • Source: PMID: 41003165
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