Mycoviruses: Emerging Investigations on Virus-Fungal Host Interaction, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Journal of Fungi (ISSN 2309-608X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2025) | Viewed by 796

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Clinical, Pharmaceutical and Biological Science, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK
Interests: mycoviruses; sequencing; sequence analysis; gene function
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK
2. Department of Clinical, Pharmaceutical and Biological Science, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK
Interests: mycoviruses; mycovirus infection; mycovirus population studies; mycovirus evolution; mycovirus–fungus interactions; bacterial gene expression; RNA damage and repair; oxidative stress; antibiotics resistance; CRISPR-Cas
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are honoured to act as Guest Editors for a Special Issue dedicated to mycoviruses, to be published in Journal of Fungi. Mycovirus infection may manifest itself via phenotypic effects on the fungal host, influencing among other traits morphology, growth, sporulation, metabolism, toxin production, pathogenicity, virulence, susceptibility to antifungals and interactions with biotic and abiotic factors. The molecular mechanisms underpinning these phenotypes are not always well characterised. Additionally, we believe that the full range of potential mycovirus-mediated phenotypes is yet to be revealed. We would like to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue by submitting your recent work for publication, as an original research article, a short communication or a review. Investigations on mycovirus-mediated phenotypes, mycovirus–fungal host interactions and the role of RNA silencing in infection are most welcome. We are looking forward to hearing from you. 

Prof. Dr. Robert H. A. Coutts
Prof. Dr. Ioly Kotta-Loizou

Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Fungi is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • mycoviruses
  • mycovirus infection
  • mycovirus-mediated phenotypes
  • mycovirus–fungal host interactions
  • mycovirus RNA silencing

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

14 pages, 2783 KiB  
Article
Effects of Thermal and Antibiotic Treatments on the Viral Accumulation of FcMV1 in Fusarium circinatum Isolates
by Huma Amin, Cristina Zamora-Ballesteros and Julio Javier Diez-Casero
J. Fungi 2025, 11(4), 267; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof11040267 - 31 Mar 2025
Viewed by 283
Abstract
Mycoviruses are viruses that infect fungi, including plant pathogens. The infection of these mycoviruses is sometimes associated with impaired phenotypes of their fungal hosts, a phenomenon known as hypovirulence. Thus, using mycoviruses as biological control agents has emerged as a promising tool to [...] Read more.
Mycoviruses are viruses that infect fungi, including plant pathogens. The infection of these mycoviruses is sometimes associated with impaired phenotypes of their fungal hosts, a phenomenon known as hypovirulence. Thus, using mycoviruses as biological control agents has emerged as a promising tool to combat forest diseases. The invasive ascomycete fungus Fusarium circinatum, which causes pine pitch canker (PPC) disease in Pinus tree species and other coniferous trees, is infected by the mycovirus Fusarium circinatum mitovirus 1 (FcMV1), FcMV2-1, and FcMV2-2. However, its impact on pathogen fitness remains unclear. The most accurate method used to identify the effect of a mycovirus on its host is the generation of isogenic lines with and without the mycovirus. The present study aimed to cure F. circinatum isolates infected by FcMV1 using different approaches. For this purpose, three replicates of each isolate were exposed to thermal treatment (38 °C) and antibiotic treatment (ribavirin, cycloheximide, kanamycin, and rifampicin mixed with cAMP)(cyclic adenosine monophosphate) for five successive passages. The viral titer of FcMV1 was then assessed using qPCR (quantitative polymerase chain reaction) after the first week and after the fifth week of the treatment. The results revealed differences in treatment efficacy among F. circinatum isolates, with some showing very low virus titers at the end of the experiment. Both thermal and antibiotic treatment effectively reduced the viral load in all isolates. In addition, the antibiotic cycloheximide and rifampicin +cAMP reduced the viral titer more than ribavirin and kanamycin. The isolate Fc179 was found to be more prone to antibiotic treatment than the other two isolates (001 and Va221). This study demonstrated the possibility of using some isolates of F. circinatum for fine-tuning cures for mitovirus, in order to create virus-free strains for biological control in the future. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop