A novel double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) virus, designated as Botryosphaeria dothidea RNA virus 1 (BdRV1), isolated from a hypovirulent strain YZN115 of Botryosphaeria dothidea was biologically and molecularly characterized. The genome of BdRV1 comprises of five dsRNAs. Each dsRNA contains a single open reading frame. The proteins encoded by dsRNA1-4 shared significant amino acid identities of 55%, 47%, 43% and 53% with the corresponding proteins of Aspergillus fumigatus tetramycovirus-1. DsRNA1, 3, and 4 of BdRV1 encoded an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, a viral methyltransferase, and a P-A-S-rich protein, respectively. Function of proteins encoded by the dsRNA2 and dsRNA5 were unknown. BdRV1 conferred hypovirulence for its host and could be transmitted through conidia and hyphae contact.

王林发) 186 • Guoping Wang (王国平) 85 • Yanxiang Wang (王雁翔) 85 • Yaqin Wang (王亚琴) 38 • Muhammad Waqas 187 • Tàiyún Wèi (魏太云) 188 • Shaohua Wen (温少华) 85 • Anna E. Whitfield 189 • John V. Williams 190 • Yuri I. Wolf 99 • Jiangxiang Wu (吴建祥) 38 • Lei Xu (徐雷) 138 • Hironobu Yanagisawa (栁澤広 宣) 191 • Caixia Yang (杨彩霞) 69 • Zuokun Yang (杨作坤) 85 • F. Murilo Zerbini 192 • Lifeng Zhai (翟立峰) 193 • Yong-Zhen Zhang (张永振) 220,221 • Song Zhang (张松) 34 • Jinguo Zhang (张靖国) 194 • Zhe Zhang (张哲) 85 • Xueping Zhou (周雪平) 195

Alternaria fungi are important pathogens infecting a wide variety of organisms. Here, we report a novel double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) mycovirus named Alternaria botybirnavirus 1 (ABRV1) isolated from a phytopathogenic Alternaria sp. strain (SCFS-3) infecting a pear tree in China. ABRV1 has two dsRNA components (dsRNAs 1 and 2) with the sizes of 6,188 and 5,903 bp, containing two putative open reading frames encoding two polyproteins (202 and 192 kDa, respectively). The polyprotein encoded by ABRV1 dsRNA1 shares 41% amino acid (aa) sequence identity with the one encoded by dsRNA2 (instead of dsRNA1) of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum botybirnavirus 1 (SsBRV1). Conversely, the polyprotein encoded by ABRV1 dsRNA2 shares 46% aa sequence identity with the one (i.e., cap-pol fusion protein) encoded by SsBRV1 dsRNA1. ABRV1 has isometric spherical virus particles (~40 nm in diameter), putatively composed of the 60-, 70- and 80-kDa structural proteins. The genomic organization and phylogenetic analyses revealed that ABRV1 belongs to a newly proposed family "Botybirnaviridae", and to our knowledge, this is the first report of a botybirnavirus infecting an Alternaria sp. strain.

A novel hepta-segmented double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) virus was isolated and characterized from the strain FJ-4 of the phytopathogenic fungus Colletotrichum fructicola, and was named Colletotrichum fructicola chrysovirus 1 (CfCV1). The full-length cDNAs of dsRNA1–7 were 3620, 2801, 2687, 2437, 1750, 1536, and 1211 bp, respectively. The 5′- and 3′-untranslated regions of the seven dsRNAs share highly similar internal sequence and contain conserved sequence stretches, indicating that they have a common virus origin. The 5′-and 3′-UTRs of the seven dsRNAs were predicted to fold into stable stem-loop structures. CfCV1 contains spherical virions that are 35 nm in diameter consisting of seven segments. The largest dsRNA of CfCV1 encodes an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), and the second dsRNA encodes a viral capsid protein (CP). The dsRNA5 encodes a C2H2-type zinc finger protein containing an R-rich region and a G-rich region. The smallest dsRNA is a satellite-like RNA. The functions of the other proteins encoded by dsRNA3, dsRNA4, dsRNA6 are unknown. Phylogenetic analysis, based on RdRp and CP, indicated that CfCV1 is phylogenetically related to Botryosphaeria dothidea chrysovirus 1 (BdCV1), and Penicillium janczewskii chrysovirus 2 (PjCV2), a cluster of an independent cluster II group in the family Chrysoviridae. Importantly, all the seven segments of CfCV1 were transmitted successfully to other virus-free strains with an all-or-none fashion. CfCV1 exerts minor influence on the growth of C. fructicola but can confer hypovirulence to the fungal host. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a hepta-segmented tentative chrysovirus in C. fructicola.