{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,19]],"date-time":"2026-10-19T13:43:13Z","timestamp":1792417393769,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":17,"publisher":"American Society for Microbiology","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,19]],"date-time":"2026-10-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1792368000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,19]],"date-time":"2026-10-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1792368000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/non-commercial-tdm-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.asm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["mBio"],"abstract":"ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n \n \n \n Mycoviruses are widespread throughout the fungal kingdom and are known to infect diverse fungal taxa, including fungal species that are important plant and human pathogens. Although many mycoviruses have been found to have minimal effects on their host, several viruses have been found to modulate fungal physiology, and, as a result, impact fungal virulence. Screens for mycoviruses in clinically relevant fungi have identified numerous mycoviruses within several important human pathogens, but mycoviruses remain uncharacterized in the clinically relevant human pathogen\n Cryptococcus neoformans. C. neoformans<\/jats:italic>\n is an opportunistic encapsulated yeast responsible for life-threatening cryptococcal meningitis, a leading cause of mortality among immunocompromised individuals, particularly those with HIV\/AIDS. We performed a search for viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP) signatures in publicly available\n C. neoformans<\/jats:italic>\n transcriptomic data. This search identified\n Totiviridae<\/jats:italic>\n viral genomes within six clinical isolates of\n C. neoformans<\/jats:italic>\n from Botswana. All six isolates originated from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of HIV-positive individuals with cryptococcal meningitis. Reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) independently validated the continued presence of the virus in three of these clinical isolates. Subsequent analysis of the viral genome identified two genotypes of a single species of Totivirus. This new species possesses canonical features of the\n Totiviridae<\/jats:italic>\n family, including a slippery heptamer and a predicted RNA pseudoknot structure involved in programmed \u22121 ribosomal frameshifting for RdRP expression. Taken together, these results provide evidence of a mycovirus capable of infecting\n C. neoformans<\/jats:italic>\n .\n <\/jats:p>\n \n IMPORTANCE<\/jats:title>\n \n We report the identification of a mycovirus capable of infecting\n Cryptococcus neoformans<\/jats:italic>\n . While mycoviruses inhabit diverse fungal taxa, they have previously remained uncharacterized in this clinically significant fungal pathogen. The identification of the mycoviruses within\n C. neoformans<\/jats:italic>\n isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid of individuals with cryptococcal meningitis places emphasis on the potential role of mycoviruses in the pathogenesis of\n C. neoformans<\/jats:italic>\n .\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1128\/mbio.02060-26","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,19]],"date-time":"2026-10-19T13:01:49Z","timestamp":1792414909000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1128\/asmj-crossmark-policy-page","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A novel mycovirus identified in clinical isolates of\n Cryptococcus neoformans<\/i>"],"prefix":"10.1128","author":[{"given":"Mysha N.","family":"Turk","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05309tf52","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Department of Biology, Niagara University","place":["Niagara, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Abberly E.","family":"Dela Rosa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05309tf52","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Department of Biology, Niagara University","place":["Niagara, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"J. T. Graham","family":"Solomons","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05309tf52","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Department of Biology, Niagara University","place":["Niagara, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2655-869X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Virginia E.","family":"Glazier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05309tf52","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Department of Biology, Niagara University","place":["Niagara, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"235","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_4_2_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/jof9030364"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/mBio.02313-21"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/IAI.00046-19"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_5_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2416656121"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_6_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/v15051202"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_7_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/v15061368"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_8_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12864-024-10432-w"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_9_2","unstructured":"Serratus. 2025. Available from: https:\/\/serratus.io. Retrieved 18 Jun 2025."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_10_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/jof7040260"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_11_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1111900108"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_12_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/1743-422X-9-140"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_13_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/v15112150"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_14_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.virusres.2015.11.015"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_15_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-021-04332-2"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_16_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00705-024-06185-2"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_17_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.09.15.751489"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_18_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.09.15.751652"}],"container-title":["mBio"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1128\/mbio.02060-26","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1128\/mbio.02060-26","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,19]],"date-time":"2026-10-19T13:01:53Z","timestamp":1792414913000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/doi\/10.1128\/mbio.02060-26"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Marcio","family":"Rodrigues","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,19]]},"references-count":17,"alternative-id":["10.1128\/mbio.02060-26"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1128\/mbio.02060-26","relation":{},"ISSN":["2150-7511"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2150-7511","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,19]]},"assertion":[{"value":"2026-08-22","order":0,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2026-09-23","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2026-10-19","order":3,"name":"published","label":"Published","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}}],"article-number":"e02060-26"}}