Cryphonectria hypovirus 1 (CHV1), associated with the picorna-like superfamily, infects the chestnut blight fungus and attenuates the virulence of the host fungus. The genomic RNA of the virus has two continuous open reading frames, A and B, separated by the pentanucleotide UAAUG. We present here evidence suggesting that ORF B is translated from genome-sized virus mRNA by a coupled termination/reinitiation mechanism mediated by the pentamer. In the coupled translation, the overlapping UAA and AUG triplets serve as the stop codon of ORF A and the initiator of ORF B, respectively. This was established by the use of a luciferase assay with a basic construct containing the ORF A sequence and the firefly luciferase gene while retaining the pentamer between the two coding sequences. The proportion of ribosomes reinitiating translation after terminating was determined to be 2.5–4.4% by three independent assay systems in fungal and insect cells. Use of a series of mutant constructs identified two sequence elements, the pentamer and the p40 sequence, that affect the efficiency of coupled translation and virus replication. Together, these results provide the first example of coupled translation facilitated by the pentanucleotide UAAUG in the kingdom Fungi. The mechanism by which the preceding p40-coding sequence promotes reinitiation is discussed.

Mycovirus-infected fungi can suffer from poor growth, attenuated pigmentation, and virulence. However, the molecular mechanisms of how mycoviruses confer these symptoms remain poorly understood. Here, we report a mycovirus Stemphylium lycopersici alternavirus 1 (SlAV1) isolated from a necrotrophic plant pathogen Stemphylium lycopersici that causes altered colony pigmentation and hypovirulence by specifically interfering host biosynthesis of Altersolanol A, a polyketide phytotoxin. SlAV1 significantly down-regulates a fungal polyketide synthase ( PKS1 ), the core enzyme of Altersolanol A biosynthesis. PKS1 deletion mutants do not accumulate Altersolanol A and lose pathogenicity to tomato and lettuce. Transgenic expression of SlAV1 open-reading frame 3 (ORF3) in S. lycopersici inhibits fungal PKS1 expression and Altersolanol A accumulation, leading to symptoms like SlAV1-infected fungal strains. Multiple plant species sprayed with mycelial suspension of S. lycopersici or S. vesicarium strains integrating and expressing ORF3 display enhanced resistance against virulent strains, converting the pathogenic fungi into biocontrol agents. Hence, our study not only proves inhibiting a key enzyme of host phytotoxin biosynthesis as a molecular mechanism underlying SlAV1-mediated hypovirulence of Stemphylium spp., but also demonstrates the potential of mycovirus-gene integrated fungi as a potential biocontrol agent to protect plants from fungal diseases.