State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193, China.
Adv Sci (Weinh). 2023 Oct;10(29):e2302606. doi: 10.1002/advs.202302606. Epub 2023 Aug 16.
Mycovirus-mediated hypovirulence has the potential to control fungal diseases. However, the availability of hypovirulence-conferring mycoviruses for plant fungal disease control is limited as most fungal viruses are asymptomatic. In this study, the virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) vector p26-D4 of Fusarium graminearum gemytripvirus 1 (FgGMTV1), a tripartite circular single-stranded DNA mycovirus, is successfully constructed to convert the causal fungus of cereal Fusarium head blight (FHB) into a hypovirulent strain. p26-D4, with an insert of a 75-150 bp fragment of the target reporter transgene transcript in both sense and antisense orientations, efficiently triggered gene silencing in Fusarium graminearum. Notably, the two hypovirulent strains, p26-D4-Tri101, and p26-D4-FgPP1, obtained by silencing the virulence-related genes Tri101 and FgPP1 with p26-D4, can be used as biocontrol agents to protect wheat from a fungal disease FHB and mycotoxin contamination at the field level. This study not only describes the first mycovirus-derived VIGS system but also proves that the VIGS vector can be used to establish multiple hypovirulent strains to control pathogenic fungi.
真菌病毒介导的弱毒现象具有控制真菌病害的潜力。然而，由于大多数真菌病毒是无症状的，因此可用于植物真菌病害防治的弱毒现象赋予真菌病毒的可用性有限。在这项研究中，成功构建了禾谷镰刀菌 gemytripvirus 1（FgGMTV1）的病毒诱导基因沉默（VIGS）载体 p26-D4，这是一种三分体环状单链 DNA 真菌病毒，用于将引起谷物赤霉病（FHB）的病原菌转化为弱毒菌株。p26-D4 以目标报告基因转录物的 75-150 bp 片段的插入物在正反义两个方向，有效地在禾谷镰刀菌中引发基因沉默。值得注意的是，通过 p26-D4 沉默毒力相关基因 Tri101 和 FgPP1 获得的两个弱毒菌株 p26-D4-Tri101 和 p26-D4-FgPP1 可作为生物防治剂，在田间水平保护小麦免受真菌病害赤霉病和真菌毒素污染。本研究不仅描述了第一个真菌病毒衍生的 VIGS 系统，还证明了 VIGS 载体可用于建立多个弱毒菌株来控制病原菌。
