Research Topics

Plant growth is influenced by various microorganisms including beneficial and harmful ones. Among them are plant-infecting viruses that cause serious damage to crops and mycoviruses infecting phytopathogenic fungi that serve as biocontrol (virocontrol agent). Also, an increasing number of bacteria and fungi mutualistic to plants that enhance plant growth and stress tolerance. This group is mainly engaged in the three projects below.

Plant/pathogenic fungus/virus interactions

Using two combinations, Chestnut/chestnut blight fungus/mycoviruses and fruit trees/root rot fungi/mycoviruses, viral replication and symptom expression were investigated at the molecular and cellular levels toward virocontrol of the plant pathogenic fungi.

Plant/pathogenic virus/vector interactions

Three systems, orchids/viruses/Brevipalpus clifornics, Arabidopsis thaliana/viruses, Trisitiae spp./viruses are the subjects of exploration at the molecular, cellular, and individual levels of pathogenesis, replication, and vector transmissibility of plant viruses, and plant responses to virus infections. Plant virus-based vectors are also developed.

Discovery and establishment of neo-lifestyle of fungal viruses

Several viruses, challenging the concept or rules of viruses, have been discovered from lower eukaryotes. The objective of this project is to re- veal the unique neo-lifestyle of Yado-nushi virus 1 (YnV1) and Yado-nushi virus 1 (YnV1) newly discovered from an important pathogen of peren- nial fruit trees, Rosellinia necatrix. We show that YkV1 highjacks the capsid of YnV1 to heteroen- capsidate YkV1 genomic RNA and replicase and use it as the replication site. Furthermore, virus- es with similar mutualistic virus/virus interactions will be found in other eukaryotic organisms to show the generality of the neo-lifestyle.

Publication List

• Kondo, H., Botella, L., and Suzuki, N. (2022). Mycovirus diversity and evolution revealed/inferred from recent studies. Annual Review of Phytopathology 60 doi: 10.1146/annurev-phyto-021621-122122.
• Suzuki, N., Aulia, A., Shahi, S., Hillman, B. I., Cornerjo, C., Rigling, D. (2021). In-tree behavior of diverse viruses harbored in the chestnut blight fungus, Cryphonectria parasitica. Journal of Virology 95 e01962-20. DOI:10.1128/JVI.01962-20
• Honda, S., Ana Eusebio-Cope, A., Miyashita, S., Yokoyama, A., Aulia, A., Shahi, S., Kondo, H., and Suzuki, N. (2020). Establishment of Neurospora crassa as a model organism for fungal virology. Nature Communications 11. 5627. DOI:10.1038/s41467-020-19355-y
• Sato, Y., Shamsi, W., Jamal, A., Bhatti, M. F., Kondo, H., and Suzuki, N. (2020). Hadaka virus 1: A capsidless 11-segmented (+)RNA virus from a phytopathogenic fungus Fusarium oxysporum. mBio 11, e0045-20. DOI:10.1128/mBio.00450-20
• Kondo, H., Fujita, M., Hisano, H., Hyodo, K., Andika I. B., and Suzuki, N. (2020). Virome analysis of aphid populations that infest the barley field: the discovery of two novel groups of nege/kita-like viruses and other novel RNA viruses. Front. Microbiol. 11 509 doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.00509
• Bian, R., Andika, I.B., Pang, T., Lian, Z., Wei, S., Niu, E., Wu, Y., Kondo, H., Liu, X. and Sun, L. 2020. Facilitative and synergistic interactions between fungal and plant viruses. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 117:3779-3788.
• Andika, I. B., Kondo, H., and Suzuki, N. (2019). Dicer functions transcriptionally and post-transcriptionally in a multilayer antiviral defense. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 116, 2274-2281. doi/10.1073/pnas.1812407116
• Wei, S., Bian, R., Andika, I.B.†, Niu, E., Liu, Q., Kondo, H., Yang, L., Zhou, H., Pang, T., Lian, Q., Wu, Y., Liu, X. and Sun, L. 2019. Symptomatic plant viroid infections in phytopathogenic fungi. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 116, 13042-13050.
• Shahi, S., Eusebio-Cope, A., I. B., Hillman, B. I., and Suzuki, N. (2019). Investigation of host range of and host defense against a mitochondrially replicating mitovirus. J. Virol. 93, e01503-18 March DOI:10.1128/JVI.01503-18.
• Hyodo, K., Suzuki, N., and Okuno, T. (2019). Hijacking a host scaffold protein, RACK1, for replication of a plant RNA virus. New Phytologist 221, 935-945.
• Chiba, S., Jamal, A., and Suzuki. N. (2018). First evidence for internal ribosomal entry sites in diverse fungal virus genomes. mBio 9, e02350-17. DOI:10.1128/mBio.02350-17.
• Andika, I. B., Jamal, A., Kondo, H., and Suzuki, N. (2017). SAGA complex mediates the transcriptional up-regulation of antiviral RNA silencing. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 114, E3499-E3506 doi: 10.1073/pnas.170119611
• Hyodo, K., Hashimoto, K., Kuchitsu, K., Suzuki, N., Okuno, T. 2017. Harnessing host ROS-generating machinery for the robust genome replication of a plant RNA virus. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 114 E1282-E1290.
• Andika, I. B, Wei, S., Cao, C., Salaipeth, L., Kondo, H., Sun, L.* Phytopathogenic fungus hosts a plant virus: A naturally occurring cross-kingdom viral infection. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 114, 12267-1227.
• Zhang, R., Hisano , S., Tani, A., Kondo, H., Kanematsu, S., and Suzuki, N. (2016). A capsidless ssRNA virus hosted by an unrelated dsRNA virus. Nature Microbiology (DOI: 10.1038/NMICROBIOL.2015.1)

Related Link

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