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Cymbidium ringspot tombusvirus coat protein coding sequence acts as an avirulent RNA
Journal of Virology
|February 13, 2001
Summary
Plant resistance to viruses can be triggered by untranslatable RNA sequences. This study identifies a specific RNA segment in the CymRSV coat protein that elicits a hypersensitive reaction (HR) in Datura stramonium, limiting viral spread.
Area of Science:
- Plant pathology
- Molecular virology
- Plant-microbe interactions
Background:
- Plant resistance genes recognize pathogen-derived elicitors, initiating defense responses like hypersensitive reaction (HR).
- HR involves localized cell death, confining pathogens and preventing systemic infection.
- Tombusviruses, including CymRSV and TBSV-P, are studied for their roles in plant-virus interactions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify viral factors responsible for the HR resistance phenotype in Datura stramonium infected with CymRSV.
- To investigate the role of the coat protein (CP) coding region in eliciting plant defense responses.
Main Methods:
- Construction and analysis of artificial chimeras and mutants of CymRSV and TBSV-P.
- Utilizing deletion and frameshift constructs within the CymRSV CP coding region.
- Phenotypic analysis of Datura stramonium upon infection with modified viruses.
Main Results:
- An 860-nucleotide RNA sequence within the CymRSV CP coding region (nt 2666-3526) was identified as the elicitor of a rapid HR-like response.
- This RNA sequence is untranslatable, yet effectively triggers plant defense.
- The identified RNA sequence limits virus spread in Datura stramonium.
Conclusions:
- This study provides the first evidence that an untranslatable RNA can trigger an HR-like resistance response in virus-infected plants.
- RNA-mediated HR may represent an alternative defense strategy evolved by plants against RNA viruses.
- The findings suggest that other nonhost resistance mechanisms could also be RNA-mediated.