Leaf Plasmodesmata Respond Differently to TMV, ToBRFV and TYLCV Infection.

Area of Science:

• Plant biology
• Molecular biology
• Virology

Background:

• Plasmodesmata (PD) are crucial for intercellular transport in plants.
• Plant viruses utilize PD for cell-to-cell movement, often manipulating PD structure and function via viral movement proteins (MPs).
• Plasmodesmata located proteins (PDLPs) are regulators of PD permeability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the developmental distribution of plasmodesmata located protein 5 (PDLP5) conjugated to GFP (PDLP5-GFP).
• To investigate the impact of three distinct plant viruses (TMV, ToBRFV, TYLCV) on PDLP5-GFP accumulation at PD.

Main Methods:

• Confocal microscopy was used to visualize PDLP5-GFP localization in plant cells.
• PDLP5-GFP distribution was analyzed in seeds and after imbibition.
• The effect of TMV, ToBRFV, and TYLCV on PDLP5-GFP levels at PD was assessed in tobacco and tomato leaves.

Main Results:

• PDLP5-GFP was observed in seed protein bodies and plasma membranes post-imbibition.
• Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) increased PDLP5-GFP at PD in tobacco leaves.
• Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) decreased PDLP5-GFP at PD in tomato leaves, with no significant effect in tobacco.

Conclusions:

• PDLP5 exhibits specific developmental localization patterns.
• Different virus families differentially modulate PDLP5 accumulation at plasmodesmata.
• These findings contribute to understanding virus-host interactions at the cellular level.