Microbial ecology of fungal viruses and hypovirulence in plant pathogenic fungi

真菌病毒的微生物生态学和植物病原真菌的低毒力

• 批准号: 2929-2011
• 负责人: Boland, Gregory
• 金额: $ 2.26万
• 依托单位: University of Guelph
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=544067
• 关键词: Microbial; ecology; fungal; viruses; hypovirulence

Variability among populations of pathogens is an important area of research for improved understanding and management of human, animal, & plant diseases. In plant diseases, for example, variations in virulence among individual strains of a pathogen can influence the severity of disease that develops on each host plant and, therefore, on our ability to manage these diseases. Fungal plant pathogens are a highly variable group of organisms and this variability is associated with several genetic factors within each pathogen, including the presence of fungal viruses. Fungal viruses are a relatively unknown group of viral parasites that are increasingly being seen as an important and diverse group of mobile genetic elements with unique properties, and may offer potential opportunities as biological control agents for fungi that cause plant diseases. This research will explore aspects of fungal viruses in Sclerotinia species, an economically important group of fungal plant pathogens of numerous agricultural, horticultural and native plants. Previous studies have identified several promising fungal viruses in Sclerotinia species, and the current studies will characterize the biology and impact of these viruses. Emphasis will be placed on identifying such important questions as how these viruses infect fungal plant pathogens, which fungal pathogens they can infect, how they spread among various fungal pathogens, how these viruses reduce the virulence of fungal pathogens, and whether they have potential applications as biological control agents for plant diseases. The results of this research will evaluate fungal viruses as biological control agents of fungal plant diseases and possibly contribute to new methods or products for the management of plant diseases. In addition, this research will contribute to the training of young scientific researchers and individuals with associated expertise in plant health in Canada.

病原体种群之间的变异是提高对人类、动物和植物疾病的理解和管理的一个重要研究领域。 例如，在植物病害中，病原体各个菌株之间的毒力差异可能会影响每种宿主植物上发生的疾病的严重程度，从而影响我们控制这些疾病的能力。 真菌植物病原体是一组高度可变的生物体，这种变异性与每种病原体内的几个遗传因素有关，包括真菌病毒的存在。 真菌病毒是一类相对未知的病毒寄生虫，越来越多地被视为一组重要且多样化的具有独特特性的移动遗传元件，并可能为引起植物病害的真菌提供潜在的生物防治剂。 这项研究将探讨核盘菌属真菌病毒的各个方面，核盘菌属是众多农业、园艺和本土植物的一组重要的经济真菌植物病原体。 先前的研究已经在核盘菌属物种中发现了几种有前途的真菌病毒，当前的研究将描述这些病毒的生物学和影响。 重点将放在确定这些重要问题上，例如这些病毒如何感染真菌植物病原体，它们可以感染哪些真菌病原体，它们如何在各种真菌病原体之间传播，这些病毒如何降低真菌病原体的毒力，以及它们是否具有潜在的应用植物病害生物防治剂。 这项研究的结果将评估真菌病毒作为真菌植物病害的生物防治剂，并可能有助于开发植物病害管理的新方法或产品。 此外，这项研究将有助于培训加拿大年轻的科研人员和具有植物健康相关专业知识的个人。