A dsRNA mycovirus, Magnaporthe oryzae chrysovirus 1-B, suppresses vegetative growth and development of the rice blast fungus

A double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) mycovirus was found in isolate S-0412-II 2a of the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. Sequence analysis of the five dsRNA segments (dsRNA1 through dsRNA5) revealed that this mycovirus is closely related to Magnaporthe oryzae chrysovirus 1-A (MoCV1-A), tentatively classified as a member of the Chrysoviridae; therefore, it was named Magnaporthe oryzae chrysovirus 1-B (MoCV1-B). Virus particles were spherical and composed of the ORF1, ORF3 and ORF4 proteins. MoCV1-B-infected isolate S-0412-II 2a showed a more severe impaired phenotype than the MoCV1-A-infected isolate. In a virus-cured isolate, normal growth was restored, implied that MoCV1-B could be involved in this observed phenotype. An unanticipated result was the occurrence of a fungal isolate lacking dsRNA5. The nonessential dsRNA5 had higher sequence identity (96%) with dsRNA5 of MoCV1-A than with the other dsRNA segments (71-79%), indicating that dsRNA5 could be a portable genomic element between MoCV1-A and MoCV1-B.