Bridled by the virus, Sclerotinia prompted the plants to sprout heftier leaves and more robust roots. Young plants sprayed with bits of virus-infected Sclerotinia matured alongside the domesticated fungus in the field, the researchers found, and wound up healthier than untreated plants. Dr. Jiang’s vision for crop protection would, in theory, be more direct: spiking fungus, pre-loaded with pacifying virus, onto plants. “This type of approach could be more sustainable,” she said, as long as the fungus doesn’t spontaneously jettison the virus and regain its plant-demolishing ways. If the relationship between virus and fungus is as durable as it seems, it prompts fascinating questions about how the two microbes might coevolve, Dr. Romero Olivares said.

Source: New York Times September 29, 2020 15:00 UTC