Rice yellow stunt rhabdovirus Protein 6 Suppresses Systemic RNA Silencing by Blocking RDR6-Mediated Secondary siRNA Synthesis

May 3, 2013Molecular plant-microbe interactions : MPMI

Rice yellow stunt rhabdovirus protein 6 blocks plant defense by stopping the production of secondary small RNAs

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Abstract

P6 from Rice yellow stunt rhabdovirus enhances the virulence of Potato virus X in plants.

P6 may function as a suppressor of RNA silencing in plants.
Transient expression of P6 represses the production of secondary siRNAs.
P6 inhibits systemic RNA silencing but does not affect local RNA silencing.
P6 shows overlapping localization with RDR6 and binds to RDR6 in vivo.
Transgenic rice plants expressing P6 exhibit increased susceptibility to Rice stripe virus.
P6 may be involved in the RYSV's strategy to counteract the plant RNA silencing defense.

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The P6 protein of Rice yellow stunt rhabdovirus (RYSV) is a virion structural protein that can be phosphorylated in vitro. However its exact function remains elusive. We found that P6 enhanced the virulence of Potato virus X (PVX) in Nicotiana benthamiana and N. tabacum plants, suggesting that it might function as a suppressor of RNA silencing. We examined the mechanism of P6-mediated silencing suppression by transiently expressing P6 in both N. benthamiana leaves and rice protoplasts. Our results showed that P6 could repress the production of secondary siRNAs and inhibit systemic green fluorescent protein RNA silencing but did not interfere with local RNA silencing in N. benthamiana plants or in rice protoplasts. Intriguingly, P6 and RDR6 had overlapping subcellular localization and P6 bound both rice and Arabidopsis RDR6 in vivo. Furthermore, transgenic rice plants expressing P6 showed enhanced susceptibility to infection by Rice stripe virus. Hence, we propose that P6 is part of the RYSV's counter-defense machinery against the plant RNA silencing system and plays a role mainly in affecting RDR6-mediated secondary siRNA synthesis. Our work provides a new perspective on how a plant-infecting nucleorhabdovirus may counteract host RNA silencing-mediated antiviral defense.

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Rice yellow stunt rhabdovirus Protein 6 Suppresses Systemic RNA Silencing by Blocking RDR6-Mediated Secondary siRNA Synthesis

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