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Updated: Sep 27, 2026

Screening and Identification of RNA Silencing Suppressors from Secreted Effectors of Plant Pathogens
Published on: February 3, 2020
Specific and efficient translation inhibition-transcription activation resistance module against viruses in plants
Zhaolei Li1,2, Jing Zhang1, Xinxin Yang3,4
1State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 10093, China.
Abstract:
Positive-sense RNA viruses using subgenomic RNAs (sgRNAs) cause severe crop losses, yet this conserved feature has rarely been exploited for antiviral engineering. Here, we constructed a virus-activated synthetic immune circuit, wherein viral sgRNA production drives host defense responses via a translation inhibition-transcription activation (TI-TA) module. An optimized translational repression element (dsBC) minimized basal expression while enabling virus-specific activation of resistance-inducing proteins (RIPs) by cognate viral sgRNA promoters. This circuit functioned against three major sgRNA-producing viruses-pepino mosaic virus (PepMV), tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), and cucumber mosaic virus (CMV)-in Nicotiana benthamiana, tomato, and Arabidopsis thaliana, with cross-resistance to related viruses. RIP expression was strictly triggered by viral infection, conferring robust resistance without detectable growth penalties. This programmable strategy provides a versatile platform for engineering resistance against diverse sgRNA-producing RNA viruses and offers a conceptual framework for developing synthetic antiviral immunity in plants.
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