Establishment of Neurospora crassa as a model organism for fungal virology

Shinji Honda, Ana Eusebio-Cope, Shuhei Miyashita, Ayumi Yokoyama, Annisa Aulia, Sabitree Shahi, Hideki Kondo and Nobuhiro Suzuki ()
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Shinji Honda: University of Fukui
Ana Eusebio-Cope: Okayama University, Kurashiki
Shuhei Miyashita: Tohoku University
Ayumi Yokoyama: University of Fukui
Annisa Aulia: Okayama University, Kurashiki
Sabitree Shahi: Okayama University, Kurashiki
Hideki Kondo: Okayama University, Kurashiki
Nobuhiro Suzuki: Okayama University, Kurashiki

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract The filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa is used as a model organism for genetics, developmental biology and molecular biology. Remarkably, it is not known to host or to be susceptible to infection with any viruses. Here, we identify diverse RNA viruses in N. crassa and other Neurospora species, and show that N. crassa supports the replication of these viruses as well as some viruses from other fungi. Several encapsidated double-stranded RNA viruses and capsid-less positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses can be experimentally introduced into N. crassa protoplasts or spheroplasts. This allowed us to examine viral replication and RNAi-mediated antiviral responses in this organism. We show that viral infection upregulates the transcription of RNAi components, and that Dicer proteins (DCL-1, DCL-2) and an Argonaute (QDE-2) participate in suppression of viral replication. Our study thus establishes N. crassa as a model system for the study of host-virus interactions.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19355-y

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