Complete genome characterization of a novel mitovirus from Morchella sp.

Background: Investigating viral diversity in non-cultivated fungi is essential for achieving a comprehensive understanding of mycoviral evolution and ecology, as current knowledge is largely derived from studies on phytopathogenic and commercially important species.Aims: This study aimed to identify and characterize mycoviruses associated with wild-collected fungi and to expand existing knowledge on mitovirus diversity in underexplored fungal hosts. Methods:A specimen assigned to Morchella sp. was screened for mycoviruses using molecular detection and genome sequencing.The complete viral genome was sequenced and annotated; bioinformatic techniques were employed to determine organization, nucleotide composition, and coding regions.Sequences were compared using BLASTp, and phylogenetic relationships were inferred based on RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) sequences.Results: A novel mitovirus, designated Morchella mitovirus 1 (MMV1), was identified.MMV1 possesses a linear RNA genome consisting of 3,167 nucleotides with a G + C content of 41.00% and contains a single open reading frame encoding an RdRp.BLASTp revealed that the MMV1 RdRp shares the highest amino acid sequence identity (40.29%) with Tuber mitovirus 3, a member of the Triamitovirus genus of the Mitoviridae family.Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the placement of MMV1 within Triamitovirus.Conclusion: This study reports the first mitovirus identified from Morchella and expands the known genetic diversity and evolutionary zet Dayanak: Kltre alnmam mantarlardaki viral eitliliin aratrlmas, mikovirs evrimi ve ekolojisinin kapsaml biimde anlalmas asndan gereklidir; nk mevcut bilgiler byk lde fitopatojenik ve ticari adan nemli trler zerinde yaplan almalardan elde edilmitir.Amalar: Bu