General references

Below are references to briefly introduce the general history of mycovirus discovery and the viruses, parasites, and toxins of S. cerevisiae

REVIEWS
Ghabrial, S. A., Castón, J. R., Jiang, D., Nibert, M. L. & Suzuki, N. 50-plus years of fungal viruses. Virology 479–480, 356–368 (2015).

A general review of mycoviruses

Rowley, P. A. The frenemies within: viruses, retrotransposons and plasmids that naturally infect Saccharomyces yeasts. Yeast (Chichester, England) 49, 111–292 (2017).

A description of the major viruses and molecular parasites that are harbored by S. cerevisiae and thoughts on the potential genetic conflict between the host and resident viruses.

Schmitt, M. J. & Breinig, F. Yeast viral killer toxins: lethality and self-protection. Nat Rev Microbiol 4, 212–221 (2006).

A general review of the major killer toxins that are produced by Saccharomyces yeasts

Wickner, R. B., Fujimura, T. & Esteban, R. Viruses and prions of S. cerevisiae. Adv Virus Res 86, 1–36 (2013).
A description of the major viruses, molecular parasites, and prions that are harbored by S. cerevisiae

MYCOVIRUS DISCOVERY

Gandy, D. G. A Transmissible Disease of Cultivated Mushrooms (‘Watery Stipe’). Annals of Applied Biology 48, 427–430 (1960).

The description of La France disease and the discovery that fragments of intact mycelium from Agaricus bisporus are sufficient to transmit disease. This provides evidence that mycoviruses are not transmitted in the environment but by anastomosis.

Shope, R. E. Effect Upon Infection in Mice with Swine Influenza Virus and Columbia SK Encephalomyelitis Virus. J Exp Medicine 97, 601–625 (1953).

Injection of mycelial extracts provides a protective effect to laboratory animals challenged with lethal viruses. The agent was named "Helenine" but is not specifically identified (see Banks et al. below)

Banks, G. T. et al. Viruses in Fungi and Interferon Stimulation. Nature 218, 542–545 (1968).

Analysis of antiviral fungal extract named "Helenine" and "Statolon" to confirm that antiviral interferon induction is caused by mycoviruses with double-stranded RNA genomes.

TOTIVIRUSES AND DOUBLE-STRANDED RNAs OF YEASTS

Bevan, E. A., Herring, A. J. & Mitchell, D. J. Preliminary characterization of two species of dsRNA in yeast and their relationship to the “killer” character. Nature 245, 81–86 (1973).

The discovery of double-stranded RNA in killer yeasts - corresponding to totiviruses and satellites within killer yeasts.

Herring, A. J. & Bevan, E. A. Virus-Like Particles Associated with Double-Stranded-RNA Species Found in Killer and Sensitive Strains of Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Gen Virol 22, 387–394 (1974).

The description of virus-like particles that are associated with S. cerevisiae

Bevan, E. A. & Makower, M. The physiological basis of the killer character in yeast. (Proc. Int. Congr. Genet, 1963).

The first description of killer yeast.

Somers, J. M. & Bevan, E. A. The inheritance of the killer character in yeast. Genet Res 13, 71–83 (1969).

Confirmation that killer toxin production is inherited from the cytoplasm and the nuclear genome.

Fujimura, T., Ribas, J. C., Makhov, A. M. & Wickner, R. B. Pol of gag–pol fusion protein required for encapsidation of viral RNA of yeast L-A virus. Nature 359, 746–749 (1992).

The polymerase of the L-A totivirus is required for packaging viral transcripts

KILLER YEASTS

Bevan, E. A. & Makower, M. The physiological basis of the killer character in yeast. (Proc. Int. Congr. Genet, 1963).

The first description of killer yeast.

Somers, J. M. & Bevan, E. A. The inheritance of the killer character in yeast. Genet Res 13, 71–83 (1969).

Confirmation that killer toxin production is inherited from the cytoplasm and the nuclear genome.