Plant DNA polymerases α and δ mediate replication of geminiviruses

Geminiviruses are causal agents of devastating diseases in crops. Geminiviruses have circular single-stranded (ss) DNA genomes that are replicated in the nucleus of the infected plant cell through double-stranded (ds) DNA intermediates by the plant DNA replication machinery. Which host DNA polymerase mediates geminiviral multiplication, however, has so far remained elusive. Here, we show that subunits of the nuclear replicative DNA polymerases α and δ physically interact with the geminivirus-encoded replication enhancer protein, C3, and that these polymerases are required for viral replication. Our results suggest that, while DNA polymerase α is essential to generate the viral dsDNA intermediate, DNA polymerase δ mediates the synthesis of new copies of the geminiviral ssDNA genome, and that the virus-encoded C3 may act selectively, recruiting DNA polymerase δ over ε to favour productive replication.