Today’s show covers a field known as mycovirology, or the study of viruses that infect fungi. This esoteric science is nascent but profound in its applications, and we are welcoming one of the few people in the world who are studying these relationships. Why do mycoviruses matter? How can we work with and against them? How can this subfield influence mycology as a whole? We welcome Dr. Brenda Wingfield from the university of Pretoria in South Africa. Brenda holds her degree in fungal genomics and has published over 300 respective articles. Her work has expanded the mycological fields of taxonomy, phylogeny, ecology and tree pathology.  Topics Covered: Defining mycovirology What makes fungal viruses unique from othersStuck fermentation caused by killer yeastsAsymptomatic vs symptomatic virusesMechanisms of viral infection in fungiUsing mycoviruses to combat Chestnut BlightViruses transferring from plants to fungiArmillaria virusesGenetic engineering with virusesWhat we know about the fungal immune systemThe detriment of La France disease in Agaricus bisporus farms 1000 Fungal Genome Project Show notes: Dr. Brenda Wingfield's publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=tnLyuG0AAAAJ&hl=en Five Questions about Mycoviruses: https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1005172 Mycoviruses educational video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXZBMcmGv84 Killer Yeasts in Wine: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0922338X9390056E Secrets of Fungal Viruses: https://theconversation.com/researchers-unlock-the-secrets-of-fungal-viruses-why-it-matters-158632