Functional characterization of βC1 gene of Cotton leaf curl Multan betasatellite

Whitefly-transmitted Begomoviruses having circular single stranded DNA genome cause severe leaf curl diseases in the tropical and subtropical region. The majority of Old World monopartite begomoviruses with DNA A component is associated with a satellite DNA of 1.3 kb length referred to as betasatellites. The presence of betasatellite is required to express typical symptoms in the primary hosts. Increased symptom expression in betasatellite's presence is attributed to a 13-15 kDa βC1 protein encoded by the βC1 gene on complementary sense strand. The exact mechanism by which the βC1 protein contributes to the symptoms' severity and helper viral DNA's accumulation is not yet understood. Here, we studied the βC1 protein of Cotton leaf curl Multan betasatellite, associated with mono and bipartite begomoviruses. The βC1 protein was expressed in prokaryotic system as 6XHis-βC1 fusion protein and recombinant protein showed size- and sequence-specific DNA binding activity. The host proteins which may interact with βC1 were identified by binding βC1 recombinant protein with heptapeptide in phage display library. The βC1-interacting host proteins predicted belong to metabolic and defense pathways, indicating that βC1 protein has a pivotal role in viral pathogenicity.