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Volume 17
Issue 8
10.3390/v17081144
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Diversity of RNA Viruses and Circular Viroid-like Elements in Heterobasidion spp. in Near-Natural Forests of Bosnia and Herzegovina

by
László Benedek Dálya
1,
Ondřej Hejna
2,
Marcos de la Peña
3,
Zoran Stanivuković
4,
Tomáš Kudláček
1,5 and
Leticia Botella
1,*
1
Department of Forest Protection and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic
2
Department of Genetics and Biotechnologies, Faculty of Agriculture and Technology, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Na Sádkách 1780, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
3
Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia-CSIC, 46022 Valencia, Spain
4
Department of Integrated Protection of Forest Ecosystems, Faculty of Forestry, University of Banja Luka, Vojvode Stepe Stepanovića Blvd. 75a, 78 000 Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
5
Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Viruses 2025, 17(8), 1144; https://doi.org/10.3390/v17081144
Submission received: 18 June 2025 / Revised: 25 July 2025 / Accepted: 12 August 2025 / Published: 20 August 2025
Review Reports Versions Notes

Abstract

Heterobasidion root rot fungi represent a major threat to conifer forest stands, and virocontrol (biocontrol) has been proposed as an alternative strategy of disease management in recent years. Here, we investigated the occurrence of RNA viruses and viroid-like genomes in Heterobasidion annosum sensu lato in near-natural forests of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Dinaric Alps), a region previously unexplored in this regard. Seventeen H. annosum s.l. isolates were screened for virus presence by RNA Sequencing and bioinformatic analyses. In total, 32 distinct mycoviruses were discovered in the datasets, 26 of which were previously unknown. The detected viruses represent two dsRNA (Partitiviridae and Curvulaviridae), six linear ssRNA (Mitoviridae, Narnaviridae, Botourmiaviridae, Virgaviridae, Benyviridae, and Deltaflexiviridae) and three circular ssRNA (Dumbiviridae, Quambiviridae, and Trimbiviridae) virus families. In addition to the known circular ambiviruses with their hammerhead (HHRz) and hairpin (HPRz) ribozymes, two other smaller non-coding circular RNAs of ca. 910 bp each were identified encoding HHRz and deltavirus (DVRz) ribozymes in both polarities of their genomes. This study documents the first report of a putative viroid-like RNA agent in Heterobasidion, along with beny-like and deltaflexivirus-like viruses in Heterobasidion abietinum, and expands the known virosphere of Heterobasidion species in Southeastern European forests.
Keywords: diversity; forest virome; mycoviruses; viroids; Heterobasidion annosum; Heterobasidion abietinum; root rot diversity; forest virome; mycoviruses; viroids; Heterobasidion annosum; Heterobasidion abietinum; root rot

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MDPI and ACS Style

Dálya, L.B.; Hejna, O.; de la Peña, M.; Stanivuković, Z.; Kudláček, T.; Botella, L. Diversity of RNA Viruses and Circular Viroid-like Elements in Heterobasidion spp. in Near-Natural Forests of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Viruses 2025, 17, 1144. https://doi.org/10.3390/v17081144

AMA Style

Dálya LB, Hejna O, de la Peña M, Stanivuković Z, Kudláček T, Botella L. Diversity of RNA Viruses and Circular Viroid-like Elements in Heterobasidion spp. in Near-Natural Forests of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Viruses. 2025; 17(8):1144. https://doi.org/10.3390/v17081144

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dálya, László Benedek, Ondřej Hejna, Marcos de la Peña, Zoran Stanivuković, Tomáš Kudláček, and Leticia Botella. 2025. "Diversity of RNA Viruses and Circular Viroid-like Elements in Heterobasidion spp. in Near-Natural Forests of Bosnia and Herzegovina" Viruses 17, no. 8: 1144. https://doi.org/10.3390/v17081144

APA Style

Dálya, L. B., Hejna, O., de la Peña, M., Stanivuković, Z., Kudláček, T., & Botella, L. (2025). Diversity of RNA Viruses and Circular Viroid-like Elements in Heterobasidion spp. in Near-Natural Forests of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Viruses, 17(8), 1144. https://doi.org/10.3390/v17081144

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