ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbe and Virus Interactions with Plants
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1609431
This article is part of the Research TopicMicrobial Pathogens in Spice Crops: Identification, Diversity, and Management StrategiesView all 3 articles
Identification of a Novel Hypovirulence-Inducing Ourmia-Like Mycovirus from Fusarium solani Causing Ginseng (Panax ginseng) Root Rot
Provisionally accepted
- Jilin Agriculture University, Changchun, China
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Fusarium solani is a widespread plant pathogen known to damage numerous crops. In this study, we identified a novel mycovirus in F. solani causing ginseng (Panax ginseng) root rot, which we named “Fusarium solani ourmia-like virus 1” (FsoOLV1). The genome of FsoOLV1 is 2,801 nucleotides (nt) in length, and has a GC content of 47.05%. It contains an open reading frame (ORF) that encodes a 750 amino acid RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), which has a molecular weight of approximately 84.84 kDa. A BLASTP database search revealed that the RdRp of FsoOLV1 shares 49.03% and 43.77% sequence homology with the RdRps of Plasmopara viticola lesion-associated ourmia-like virus 13 and Plasmopara viticola lesion-associated ourmia-like virus 19, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that FsoOLV1 clusters within a clade containing the Magoulivirus genus in the Botourmiaviridae family. Curing FsoOLV1 from the fungal host strain revealed that the virus plays a role in reducing the virulence of the F. solani strain SJH 2-4. Additionally, protoplast transfection revealed that FsoOLV1 can significantly reduce the virulence of other ginseng (Panax ginseng) root rot pathogens, including F. oxysporum, F. proliferatum, and F. verticillioides. Furthermore, FsoOLV1 is capable of horizontal transmission between F. solani strains and vertical transmission to the next generation via conidia. To our knowledge, this is the first hypovirulent ourmia-like virus to be described, and our findings indicate that it could be a promising biological agent for the control of ginseng root rot.
Keywords: Mycovirus, Hypovirulence, Ourmia-like virus, Fusarium solani, ginseng root rot
Received: 10 Apr 2025; Accepted: 05 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ma, Ni, Liu, Cai, Jiang, Lu, Yang, Zhang and Gao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yanjing Zhang, Jilin Agriculture University, Changchun, China
Jie Gao, Jilin Agriculture University, Changchun, China
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