Fungal Viruses in PlantMicrobe Biodiversity and Ecology

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Fungal Viruses in Plant-Microbe Biodiversity and
Ecology

• presented by
• Marilyn J Roossinck
• Plant Biology Division
• The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation

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Fungal Viruses

• Many fungi are infected with RNA viruses.
• Fungal viruses are very poorly studied.

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Plant Adaptation to Extreme Environments
Photos courtesy of Joan Henson
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soil temp of 65C
Marquez et al Science 2007
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A Virus in a Fungus in a Plant

• Thermal tolerance requires a three-way
  mutualistic symbiosis involving a plant, a fungus
  and a virus.
• The virus is unique because it has no defined
  relatives.
• The role of the virus was proven by curing the
  fungus and then reintroducing the virus.
• The thermal tolerance conferred by the
  virus-infected fungus works with very diverse
  plants (monocots and dicots), indicating that it
  interacts with a pathway with an ancient origin.

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Fungal Endophytes in Adaptation to Extreme
Environments

• Salt Tolerance
• Drought Tolerance
• Heat Tolerance

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Fungal endophytes in plant ecology
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Potential interactions

• Expansion of current PVBE into Plant-Microbe
  Biodiversity and Ecology (PMBE)
• Viruses of fungal endophytes in keystone prairie
  species
• PMBE
• LDHD