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Updated: Aug 26, 2026

Screening and Identification of RNA Silencing Suppressors from Secreted Effectors of Plant Pathogens
Published on: February 3, 2020
The potyviral suppressor of RNA silencing confers enhanced resistance to multiple pathogens
Gail J Pruss1, Christopher B Lawrence, Troy Bass
1Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.
Abstract:
Helper component-protease (HC-Pro) is a plant viral suppressor of RNA silencing, and transgenic tobacco expressing HC-Pro has increased susceptibility to a broad range of viral pathogens. Here we report that these plants also exhibit enhanced resistance to unrelated heterologous pathogens. Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) infection of HC-Pro-expressing plants carrying the N resistance gene results in fewer and smaller lesions compared to controls without HC-Pro. The resistance to TMV is compromised but not eliminated by expression of nahG, which prevents accumulation of salicylic acid (SA), an important defense signaling molecule. HC-Pro-expressing plants are also more resistant to tomato black ring nepovirus (TBRV) and to the oomycete Peronospora tabacina. Enhanced TBRV resistance is SA-independent, whereas the response to P. tabacina is associated with early induction of markers characteristic of SA-dependent defense. Thus, a plant viral suppressor of RNA silencing enhances resistance to multiple pathogens via both SA-dependent and SA-independent mechanisms.
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