Biocontrol of Ash Dieback using Hypovirulence-Inducing Mycoviruses from other fungal pathogens? (BADHIM)

Cooperation with Prof. Nobuhiro Suzuki (Okayama University, Japan)

Climate change and human activity have resulted in biological invasions that have become a major challenge to forests worldwide. Due to the lack of sustainability of fungicides, a limited number of management options are available to control fungal diseases of trees, with biocontrol being one of them. In this regard, mycoviruses reducing the virulence of their fungal host have gained particular attention as biocontrol agents. The invasive fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus causes ash dieback across Europe. This project aims to develop a biocontrol for ash dieback by introducing hypovirulence-inducing mycoviruses from other fungal hosts to European isolates of H. fraxineus and exploring their effect on the growth of the new fungal host and their transmission potential to the ascospores.