Isolation and characterization of the dsRNA virus from the yeastEndomyces magnusii

Fungal Viruses Unveiled: A Comprehensive Review of Mycoviruses

Mycoviruses (viruses of fungi) are ubiquitous throughout the fungal kingdom and are currently classified into 23 viral families and the genus botybirnavirus by the International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV). The primary focus of mycoviral research has been on mycoviruses that infect plant pathogenic fungi, due to the ability of some to reduce the virulence of their host and thus act as potential biocontrol against these fungi. However, mycoviruses lack extracellular transmission mechanisms and rely on intercellular transmission through the hyphal anastomosis, which impedes successful transmission between different fungal strains. This review provides a comprehensive overview of mycoviruses, including their origins, host range, taxonomic classification into families, effects on their fungal counterparts, and the techniques employed in their discovery. The application of mycoviruses as biocontrol agents of plant pathogenic fungi is also discussed.

Electrophoretic karyotype of Dipodascus (Endomyces) magnusii: two main intraspecific chromosomal polymorphisms associated with the difference in total genome size

This study describes the karyotype of strain 270 of the yeast-like fungus Endomyces magnusii. It consists of 13 chromosomal DNA molecules, the size of which range between 1.2 and 5.7Mb producing a genome size of approximately 38Mb. By comparing the karyotype of six strains of E. magnusii, we revealed two main chromosome length polymorphisms (CLPs) associated with a pronounced difference in the total genome size (roughly 50%). Karyotype heterogeneity between two main CLPs was demonstrated by Southern analysis with three heterologous probes. The same species affiliation of six E. magnusii strains was confirmed by morphological and cytological studies, protein fingerprint comparisons, as well as restriction analysis of mitochondrial DNA and genomic Southern analysis.