Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbial Symbioses
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1493365

Unveiling mycoviral diversity in Ophiocordyceps sinensis through transcriptome analyses

Provisionally accepted
Qin Kang Qin Kang 1,2*Jihong Zhang Jihong Zhang 1,3*Fangzhou Chen Fangzhou Chen 4Caihong Dong Caihong Dong 5Qilian Qin Qilian Qin 1,3Xuan Li Xuan Li 1,3*Hongtuo Wang Hongtuo Wang 1,3*Huan Zhang Huan Zhang 1,3*Qian MENG Qian MENG 1,3*
  • 1 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, China
  • 2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, Beijing, China
  • 3 Beijing Yun’an Bio-tech Co. Ltd., Beijing, China
  • 4 China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 5 State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Ophiocordyceps sinensis, an entomopathogenic fungus, infects larvae from the Lepidoptera: Hepialidae family, forming the valuable Chinese cordyceps. Mycoviruses are widespread across major lineages of filamentous fungi, oomycetes, and yeasts and have the potential to influence fungal biology and ecology. This study aimed to detect mycovirus within O. sinensis by isolating double-stranded RNA from six stains for transcriptomic sequencing and analyzing publicly available transcriptome data from thirteen O. sinensis representative samples. Our analysis revealed thirteen mycoviruses, with nine reported for the first time in O. sinensis. These mycoviruses are distributed across five families--Partitiviridae, Mitoviridae, Narnaviridae, Botourmiaviridae, Deltaflexiviridae-and two unclassified lineages, Ormycovirus and Vivivirus. This study also revealed frequent coinfections within individual O. sinensis strains and dynamic shifts in viral composition during fungal development. These findings enhance our knowledge of mycovirus diversity within O. sinensis and provide new insights into their taxonomy.

    Keywords: Ophiocordyceps sinensis, Mycovirus, Transcriptome, public transcriptome mining, viral taxonomy

    Received: 09 Sep 2024; Accepted: 05 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Kang, Zhang, Chen, Dong, Qin, Li, Wang, Zhang and MENG. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Qin Kang, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, China
    Jihong Zhang, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, China
    Xuan Li, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, China
    Hongtuo Wang, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, China
    Huan Zhang, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, China
    Qian MENG, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.