Microbial ecology of fungal viruses and hypovirulence in plant pathogenic fungi

病原菌群体间的变异是提高对人类、动物和植物疾病理解和管理的一个重要研究领域。例如，在植物疾病中，一种病原体的单个菌株之间的毒力变化可以影响在每个寄主植物上发展的疾病的严重程度，从而影响我们管理这些疾病的能力。植物真菌病原体是一组高度可变的生物体，这种可变性与每种病原体内的几个遗传因素有关，包括真菌病毒的存在。真菌病毒是一种相对不为人知的病毒寄生虫，它越来越被视为一种重要的、多样化的、具有独特特性的可移动遗传元件，并可能提供潜在的机会作为引起植物疾病的真菌的生物防治剂。菌核菌是一种在农业、园艺和本地植物中具有重要经济意义的真菌植物病原体，本研究将探索菌核菌中真菌病毒的各个方面。以前的研究已经在菌核菌物种中发现了几种有希望的真菌病毒，目前的研究将描述这些病毒的生物学特性和影响。重点将放在确定这些病毒如何感染真菌植物病原体，它们可以感染哪些真菌病原体，它们如何在各种真菌病原体之间传播，这些病毒如何降低真菌病原体的毒力，以及它们是否有潜在的应用作为植物疾病的生物防治剂。本研究结果将评价真菌病毒作为植物真菌病害的生物防治剂，并可能为植物病害管理提供新的方法或产品。此外，这项研究将有助于培训加拿大在植物健康方面具有相关专门知识的年轻科学研究人员和个人。

Variability among populations of pathogens is an important area of research for improved understanding and management of human, animal, & plant diseases. In plant diseases, for example, variations in virulence among individual strains of a pathogen can influence the severity of disease that develops on each host plant and, therefore, on our ability to manage these diseases. Fungal plant pathogens are a highly variable group of organisms and this variability is associated with several genetic factors within each pathogen, including the presence of fungal viruses. Fungal viruses are a relatively unknown group of viral parasites that are increasingly being seen as an important and diverse group of mobile genetic elements with unique properties, and may offer potential opportunities as biological control agents for fungi that cause plant diseases. This research will explore aspects of fungal viruses in Sclerotinia species, an economically important group of fungal plant pathogens of numerous agricultural, horticultural and native plants. Previous studies have identified several promising fungal viruses in Sclerotinia species, and the current studies will characterize the biology and impact of these viruses. Emphasis will be placed on identifying such important questions as how these viruses infect fungal plant pathogens, which fungal pathogens they can infect, how they spread among various fungal pathogens, how these viruses reduce the virulence of fungal pathogens, and whether they have potential applications as biological control agents for plant diseases. The results of this research will evaluate fungal viruses as biological control agents of fungal plant diseases and possibly contribute to new methods or products for the management of plant diseases. In addition, this research will contribute to the training of young scientific researchers and individuals with associated expertise in plant health in Canada.