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Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Viral Small Interfering RNAs Target Host Genes to Mediate Disease Symptoms in Plants
PLoS Pathogens, Vol.7(5), pp.1-9
2011
PMID: 21573142
Abstract
The Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) Y-satellite RNA (Y-Sat) has a small non-protein-coding RNA genome that induces yellowing symptoms in infected Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco). How this RNA pathogen induces such symptoms has been a longstanding question. We show that the yellowing symptoms are a result of small interfering RNA (siRNA)-directed RNA silencing of the chlorophyll biosynthetic gene, CHLI. The CHLI mRNA contains a 22-nucleotide (nt) complementary sequence to the Y-Sat genome, and in Y-Sat-infected plants, CHLI expression is dramatically down-regulated. Small RNA sequencing and 5' RACE analyses confirmed that this 22-nt sequence was targeted for mRNA cleavage by Y-Sat-derived siRNAs. Transformation of tobacco with a RNA interference (RNAi) vector targeting CHLI induced Y-Sat-like symptoms. In addition, the symptoms of Y-Sat infection can be completely prevented by transforming tobacco with a silencing-resistant variant of the CHLI gene. These results suggest that siRNA-directed silencing of CHLI is solely responsible for the Y-Sat-induced symptoms. Furthermore, we demonstrate that two Nicotiana species, which do not develop yellowing symptoms upon Y-Sat infection, contain a single nucleotide polymorphism within the siRNA-targeted CHLI sequence. This suggests that the previously observed species specificity of Y-Sat-induced symptoms is due to natural sequence variation in the CHLI gene, preventing CHLI silencing in species with a mismatch to the Y-Sat siRNA. Taken together, these findings provide the first demonstration of small RNA-mediated viral disease symptom production and offer an explanation of the species specificity of the viral disease.
Details
- Title
- Viral Small Interfering RNAs Target Host Genes to Mediate Disease Symptoms in Plants
- Authors
- Neil A. Smith (Author) - CSIRO Plant Industry (Australia)Andrew Eamens (Author) - CSIRO Plant Industry (Australia)Ming-Bo Wang (Author) - CSIRO Plant Industry (Australia)
- Publication details
- PLoS Pathogens, Vol.7(5), pp.1-9
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science
- Date published
- 2011
- DOI
- 10.1371/journal.ppat.1002022
- ISSN
- 1553-7374; 1553-7366
- PMID
- 21573142
- Copyright note
- Copyright: © 2011 Smith et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Health - Biomedicine; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99656590002621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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