The rules in co-infection of multiple viruses across diverse lineages in a fungal host
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Viruses, ubiquitous non-cellular organisms, pose significant threats to human health and to the agricultural productivity of both livestock and crops. Emerging evidence indicates that multiple viruses can infect a single host, and viral co-infection can exert a profound influence on host physiology. However, our understanding of the prevalence of co-infection and the compatibility of phylogenetically distant viruses is still limited. In this study, we surveyed 406 field strains of the plant fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea and identified 76 mycoviruses. Strikingly, 404 strains were co-infected with two or more viruses, with some harboring up to 25 viruses simultaneously. We discerned significant preference patterns among viruses in their host. Specifically, we identified “one-to-one” and “two-to-one” rules, wherein one or two viruses could be used to reliably predict the presence or absence of other viruses in the same host, and validated these predicted rules by using five B. cinerea strains. Furthermore, through the RNA-sequencing approach, we uncovered B. cinerea genes associated with the differences caused by different sets of co-infecting viruses. These are implicated in integral components of membrane, transmembrane transporter activity, autophagy pathways, mitophagy pathway, fatty acid biosynthetic process, sphingolipid metabolism, and glycosphingolipid biosynthesis. Our findings underscore the high prevalence of co-infection by multiple viruses in a fungal host within a population and highlight compatibility dynamics among phylogenetically diverse viruses. These insights contribute to our understanding of viral ecology and hold promise for informing strategies to manage viral diseases effectively.
Editor(s)
Taylor, John W
Date Issued
2025-06-11
Date Acceptance
2025-04-16
Citation
mBio, 2025, 16 (6)
ISSN
2150-7511
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Start Page
e0026225
Journal / Book Title
mBio
Volume
16
Issue
6
Copyright Statement
© 2025 Duan et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40391984
Subjects
co-infection
compatibility
ecology
fungi
virus
Botrytis
Fungal Viruses
Coinfection
Phylogeny
Plant Diseases
Host-Pathogen Interactions
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
United States
Article Number
e00262-25
Date Publish Online
2025-05-20