ABSTRACT
The concept of using a parasite of a parasite for disease control is appealing from both an intellectual and an ecological perspective. The phenomenon of transmissible hypovirulence, in which virulence of the chestnut blight fungus,
Cryphonectria parasitica
, is attenuated by double-stranded RNA viruses in the family Hypoviridae, is often cited as a classic example of this approach to biological disease control. Progress in the development of an infectious cDNA-based reverse genetics system for hypoviruses has provided the means for engineering these viral agents for both fundamental and practical applications, e.g., as a tool for probing signal transduction processes underlying fungal pathogenesis and for enhanced biocontrol potential.
