Transmission of Penicillium aurantiogriseum partiti-like virus 1 to a new fungal host (Cryphonectria parasitica) confers higher resistance to salinity and reveals adaptive genomic changes

We attempted to transfect six recently characterized virus species to protoplasts of Penicillium janczewskii and Chryphonectria parasitica. None of the recovered P. janczewskii colonies was positive for the transfected viruses, but Penicillium aurantiogriseum partiti-like virus 1 (PaPLV1) was detected in three distinct regenerated C. parasitica colonies. We screened the phenotype of the infected strains in up to 45 different conditions combining different media, salinity and temperatures: our results show that the infected strains grow slower than the virus- free in most of the tested conditions with the exception of halophilic stress in a specific nutrient combination media. We proceeded to characterize molecularly the population of distinct isolates of PaPLV1 infected C. parasitica through RNAseq: comparison to the viral population present in the original host - P. auratiogriseum - showed that two isolates accumulated non-synonymous mutations suggesting adaptation to the new host. RNAseq analyses identified a second genomic RNA segment and northern blot of RNA extracted from purified virus suspensions allowed establishing that PaPLV1 is at least bipartite in nature and that it forms isometric virions of circa 36-38 nm in diameter. In light of these new acquisitions, we discuss the taxonomic placement of PaPLV1 inside the Partitiviridae.