Erin Scheller - 23793699
Professor Steven Lindow & Cat Adams
ESPM C192
16 November 2015
The Use of Fungal Viruses in the Control of Chestnut Blight: Addressing the Problem Chestnut Blight, caused by the fungus Cryphonectria parasitica, is responsible for the widespread death of Chestnut trees in North America occurring in the early twentieth century (1). Because of the detriment that this severe pathogen brought to American Chestnuts, researchers and environmentalists have sought ways to relieve the problem, most notably through the study of the role of the mycovirus CHV-1, or Cryphonectria hypovirus, as a biological control agent, as previously discussed (7). Cryphonectria hypovirus naturally evolved with both Asian and European Chestnut …show more content…
parasitica and the Cryphonectria hypovirus provides information that can help to stop the death of Chestnut Trees. Researchers have focussed especially on the traits of C. parasitica and the hypovirus, and in the laboratory and field there are simple diagnostic tests to gauge each situation involving the two pathogens (16). For example, a lab test involving the reduction of pigment production in a culture can show if an isolate of C. parasitica is infected with CHV-1 (16). In the field, infection of CHV-1 in the fungus decreases canker growth and both sexual and asexual reproduction of C. parasitica (16). In many other plant pathogens, virus purification and antiserum production have contributed heavily in understanding and detecting pathogens, even in some mycoviruses (7). Though generally these methods are not successful in the CHV-1 mycovirus due to its ability to dispense with a protective protein coat that blocks detection of virus particles, there may be further exploration of this method, because some Hypovirus remain unencapsidated (7). Alternatively, Polymerase Chain Reaction, which involves detecting, cloning, and sequencing the mycovirus genome, and subsequent automated sequencing of mycoviruses have greatly increased the knowledge available on various mycoviruses, especially in the scope of their diversity (7). In 2003 scientists created a cDNA microarray of C. parasitica to monitor the transcriptional responses the fungus had to hypovirus infection. They can now detect various expressed genes for multiple biological functions such as response to stress, metabolism of carbon, and transcriptional regulation, which are all changes that indicate the reprogramming of a large portion of the C. parasitica transcriptome and the effect of the virus on the fungal pathogen (14). Research and knowledge in monitoring fungal pathogens and mycoviruses has increased immensely since the wave of Chestnut Blight in the United States,
Professor Steven Lindow & Cat Adams
ESPM C192
16 November 2015
The Use of Fungal Viruses in the Control of Chestnut Blight: Addressing the Problem Chestnut Blight, caused by the fungus Cryphonectria parasitica, is responsible for the widespread death of Chestnut trees in North America occurring in the early twentieth century (1). Because of the detriment that this severe pathogen brought to American Chestnuts, researchers and environmentalists have sought ways to relieve the problem, most notably through the study of the role of the mycovirus CHV-1, or Cryphonectria hypovirus, as a biological control agent, as previously discussed (7). Cryphonectria hypovirus naturally evolved with both Asian and European Chestnut …show more content…
parasitica and the Cryphonectria hypovirus provides information that can help to stop the death of Chestnut Trees. Researchers have focussed especially on the traits of C. parasitica and the hypovirus, and in the laboratory and field there are simple diagnostic tests to gauge each situation involving the two pathogens (16). For example, a lab test involving the reduction of pigment production in a culture can show if an isolate of C. parasitica is infected with CHV-1 (16). In the field, infection of CHV-1 in the fungus decreases canker growth and both sexual and asexual reproduction of C. parasitica (16). In many other plant pathogens, virus purification and antiserum production have contributed heavily in understanding and detecting pathogens, even in some mycoviruses (7). Though generally these methods are not successful in the CHV-1 mycovirus due to its ability to dispense with a protective protein coat that blocks detection of virus particles, there may be further exploration of this method, because some Hypovirus remain unencapsidated (7). Alternatively, Polymerase Chain Reaction, which involves detecting, cloning, and sequencing the mycovirus genome, and subsequent automated sequencing of mycoviruses have greatly increased the knowledge available on various mycoviruses, especially in the scope of their diversity (7). In 2003 scientists created a cDNA microarray of C. parasitica to monitor the transcriptional responses the fungus had to hypovirus infection. They can now detect various expressed genes for multiple biological functions such as response to stress, metabolism of carbon, and transcriptional regulation, which are all changes that indicate the reprogramming of a large portion of the C. parasitica transcriptome and the effect of the virus on the fungal pathogen (14). Research and knowledge in monitoring fungal pathogens and mycoviruses has increased immensely since the wave of Chestnut Blight in the United States,