Three ourmia-like viruses and their associated RNAs in Pyricularia oryzae

Three ourmia-like viruses, designated Pyricularia oryzae ourmia-like virus (PoOLV) 1 to 3, were identified in a wheat-infecting isolate of P. oryzae. The sizes of the full-length PoOLV1-3 genomes were determined to be 2,528, 1,671, and 2,557 nt. Interestingly, we also found two abundant single-stranded RNAs sharing their 5' terminal 25 and 255 nt with PoOLV1 RNA and PoOLV3 RNA, respectively. The PoOLV1- and PoOLV3-associated RNAs (ARNA1 and ARNA3) were 639 and 514 nt in length, and possessed one and two small ORFs, respectively. In the field isolates of P. oryzae, PoOLVs and ARNAs were detectable at varying levels, and the levels of PoOLV1 and ARNA1 as well as those of PoOLV3 and ARNA3, were tightly correlated. In addition, gene silencing of PoOLV1 and PoOLV3 resulted in a reduction of ARNA1 and ARNA3, respectively. There results indicated that replication of ARNA1 and ARNA3 was associated with PoOLV1 and PoOLV3, respectively.