Published in

MDPI, Viruses, 12(11), p. 1120, 2019

DOI: 10.3390/v11121120

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Chrysoviruses Inhabited Symbiotic Fungi of Lichens

Journal article published in 2019 by Karel Petrzik ORCID, Igor Koloniuk ORCID, Hana Sehadová ORCID, Tatiana Sarkisova
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

A lichen body is formed most often from green alga cells trapped in a net of ascomycetous fungi and accompanied by endolichenic or parasitic fungi, other algae, and symbiotic or free-living bacteria. The lichen’s microcosmos is inhabited by mites, insects, and other animals for which the lichen is a source of food or a place to live. Novel, four-segmented dsRNA viruses were detected in saxicolous Chrysothrix chlorina and Lepraria incana lichens. Comparison of encoded genome proteins revealed classification of the viruses to the genus Alphachrysovirus and a relationship to chrysoviruses from filamentous ascomycetous fungi. We propose the names Chrysothrix chrysovirus 1 (CcCV1) and Lepraria chrysovirus 1 (LiCV1) as acronyms for these viruses. Surprisingly, observation of Chrysothrix chlorina hybridization with fluorescent-labelled virus probe by confocal microscope revealed that the CcCV1 virus is not present in the lichen body-forming fungus but in accompanying endolichenic Penicillium citreosulfuratum fungus. These are the first descriptions of mycoviruses from a lichen environment.