Molecular and biological characterization of a novel partitivirus from Talaromyces pinophilus

Virus Res. 2024 Mar 5:199351. doi: 10.1016/j.virusres.2024.199351. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTTalaromyces spp. have a worldwide distribution, are ecologically diverse and have been isolated from numerous different substrates. Talaromyces spp. are considered biotechnologically important due to their ability to produce a range of enzymes and pigments. Talaromyces pinophilus, belonging to genus Talaromyces and family Trichocomaceae, is known for producing several important bioactive metabolites. Here we report the isolation and characterisation of a partitivirus from T. pinophilus which we have nominated Talaromyces pinophilus partitivirus-1 (TpPV-1). TpPV-1 possesses a genome consisting of three double stranded (ds) RNA segments i.e., dsRNAs1-3, 1824 bp, 1638 bp and 1451 bp respectively, which are encapsidated in icosahedral particles 35 nm in diameter. Both dsRNA1 and dsRNA2 contain a single open reading frame (ORF) encoding respectively a 572 amino acid (aa) protein of 65 kDa and a 504 aa protein of 50 kDa. The third segment (dsRNA3) is potentially a satellite RNA. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the TpPV-1 belongs to the family Partitiviridae in the proposed genus Zetapartitivirus. TpPV-1 infection decreases the mycelial growth rate of the host fungus and alters pigmentation as indicated by time course experiments performed on a range of different solid media comparing virus-infected and virus-free isogenic lines. This is the first report of mycovirus infection in T. ...
Source: Virus Research - Category: Virology Authors: Source Type: research