UC San Diego

The enigma of the transmissible disease of Helminthosporium victoriae has almost been resolved. Diseased isolates are doubly infected with two distinct viruses, the victorivirus Helminthosporium victoriae virus 190S and the chrysovirus HvV145S. Mixed infection, however, is not required for disease development. DNA transformation experiments and transfection assays using purified HvV190S virions strongly indicate that HvV190S alone is necessary for inducing disease symptoms. HvV145, like other chrysoviruses, appears to have no effect on colony morphology. This chapter will discuss the molecular biology of the two viruses and summarize recent results of characterization of host gene products upregulated by virus infection. Furthermore, the novel structural features of HvV190S capsid will be highlighted.