Mycoviruses: Fungi Can Get Sick, Too

Today’s show covers a field known as mycovirology, or the study of viruses that infect fungi. This esoteric science is nascent but profound in its applications, and we are welcoming one of the few people in the world who are studying these relationships. Why do mycoviruses matter? How can we work with and against them? How can this subfield influence mycology as a whole?

We welcome Dr. Brenda Wingfield from the university of Pretoria in South Africa. Brenda holds her degree in fungal genomics and has published over 300 respective articles. Her work has expanded the mycological fields of taxonomy, phylogeny, ecology and tree pathology. 

Topics Covered:

• Defining mycovirology 
• What makes fungal viruses unique from others
• Stuck fermentation caused by killer yeasts
• Asymptomatic vs symptomatic viruses
• Mechanisms of viral infection in fungi
• Using mycoviruses to combat Chestnut Blight
• Viruses transferring from plants to fungi
• Armillaria viruses
• Genetic engineering with viruses
• What we know about the fungal immune system
• The detriment of La France disease in Agaricus bisporus farms 
• 1000 Fungal Genome Project 

Show notes:

Dr. Brenda Wingfield's publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=tnLyuG0AAAAJ&hl=en

Five Questions about Mycoviruses: https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1005172

Mycoviruses educational video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXZBMcmGv84

Killer Yeasts in Wine: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0922338X9390056E

Secrets of Fungal Viruses: https://theconversation.com/researchers-unlock-the-secrets-of-fungal-viruses-why-it-matters-158632



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