Characterisation of a novel hypovirus from Sclerotinia sclerotiorum potentially representing a new genus within the Hypoviridae

A novel mycovirus tentatively assigned the name Sclerotinia sclerotiorum hypovirus 2 (SsHV2/5472) was detected in the phytopathogenic fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. The genome is 14581 nucleotides (nts) long, excluding the poly (A) tail. A papain-like cysteine protease (Pro), an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) and a helicase (Hel) domain were detected in the polyprotein. Phylogenetic analysis based on multiple alignments of the aa sequence of the polyprotein placed it in a distinct clade from Alphahypovirus and Betahypovirus. The distinct aa sequence plus the fact that SsHV2/5472 possesses the longest reported genome for a hypovirus, suggests that SsHV2/5472 may represent a new genus in the family Hypoviridae. Eliminating SsHV2/5472 from S. sclerotiorum significantly increased the virulence of the protoplast virus-free derivative 5472-P5, although SsHV/5472-containing isolates showed significant variation in their virulence. In addition, membrane-bound vesicles (25-50 nm) were observed in ultrathin mycelial sections of SsHV2/5472 containing isolates but not in SsHV2/5472-free isolate.