scholarly journals Role of the Alfalfa mosaic virus Movement Protein and Coat Protein in Virus Transport

2001 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 1051-1062 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesús A. Sánchez-Navarro ◽  
John F. Bol

The movement protein (MP) and coat protein (CP) encoded by Alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) RNA 3 are both required for virus transport. RNA 3 vectors that expressed nonfused green fluorescent protein (GFP), MP:GPF fusions, or GFP:CP fusions were used to study the functioning of mutant MP and CP in protoplasts and plants. C-terminal deletions of up to 21 amino acids did not interfere with the function of the CP in cell-to-cell movement, although some of these mutations interfered with virion assembly. Deletion of the N-terminal 11 or C-terminal 45 amino acids did not interfere with the ability of MP to assemble into tubular structures on the protoplast surface. Additionally, N- or C-terminal deletions disrupted tubule formation. A GFP:CP fusion was targeted specifically into tubules consisting of a wild-type MP. All MP deletion mutants that showed cell-to-cell and systemic movement in plants were able to form tubular structures on the surface of protoplasts. Brome mosaic virus (BMV) MP did not support AMV transport. When the C-terminal 48 amino acids were replaced by the C-terminal 44 amino acids of the AMV MP, however, the BMV/AMV chimeric protein permitted wild-type levels of AMV transport. Apparently, the C terminus of the AMV MP, although dispensable for cell-to-cell movement, confers specificity to the transport process.

2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (17) ◽  
pp. 8045-8053 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hideaki Nagano ◽  
Kazuyuki Mise ◽  
Iwao Furusawa ◽  
Tetsuro Okuno

ABSTRACT Plant viruses have movement protein (MP) gene(s) essential for cell-to-cell movement in hosts. Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) requires its own coat protein (CP) in addition to the MP for intercellular movement. Our present results using variants of both CMV and a chimeric Brome mosaic virus with the CMV MP gene revealed that CMV MP truncated in its C-terminal 33 amino acids has the ability to mediate viral movement independently of CP. Coexpression of the intact and truncated CMV MPs extremely reduced movement of the chimeric viruses, suggesting that these heterogeneous CMV MPs function antagonistically. Sequential deletion analyses of the CMV MP revealed that the dispensability of CP occurred when the C-terminal deletion ranged between 31 and 36 amino acids and that shorter deletion impaired the ability of the MP to promote viral movement. This is the first report that a region of MP determines the requirement of CP in cell-to-cell movement of a plant virus.


2004 ◽  
Vol 85 (6) ◽  
pp. 1751-1761 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atsushi Takeda ◽  
Masanori Kaido ◽  
Tetsuro Okuno ◽  
Kazuyuki Mise

The 3a movement protein (MP) plays a central role in the movement of Brome mosaic virus (BMV). To identify the functional regions in BMV MP, 24 alanine-scanning (AS) MP mutants of BMV were constructed. Infectivity of the AS mutants in the host plant Chenopodium quinoa showed that the central region of BMV MP is important for viral movement and both termini of BMV MP have effects on the development of systemic symptoms. A green-fluorescent-protein-expressing RNA3-based BMV vector containing a 2A sequence from Foot-and-mouth disease virus was also constructed. Using this vector, two AS mutants that showed more efficient cell-to-cell movement than wild-type BMV were identified. The MPs of these two AS mutants, which have mutations at their C termini, mediated cell-to-cell movement independently of coat protein (CP), unlike wild-type BMV MP. Furthermore, a BMV mutant with a truncation in the C-terminal 42 amino acids of MP was also able to move from cell to cell without CP, but did not move systemically, even in the presence of CP. These results and an encapsidation analysis suggest that the C terminus of BMV MP is involved in the requirement for CP in cell-to-cell movement and plays a role in long-distance movement. Furthermore, the ability to spread locally and form virions is not sufficient for the long-distance movement of BMV. The roles of MP and CP in BMV movement are discussed.


1998 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 498-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Weber ◽  
Artur J. P. Pfitzner

The Tm-22 resistance gene is used in most commercial tomato cultivars for protection against infection with tomato mosaic virus (ToMV). It has been suggested that Tm-22 resistance interferes with viral cell-to-cell movement in plants; ToMV strain ToMV-22 requires two amino acid (aa) exchanges in the carboxy-terminal region of the viral 30-kDa movement protein (at positions 238 and 244) to overcome Tm-22 resistance. For further analysis of this region of the 30-kDa protein, two stop codons were introduced into ToMV movement proteins at aa positions 235 and 237, leading to deletion of the terminal 30 aa. The mutant virus strains were able to infect wild-type tomato plants systemically, suggesting the carboxy-terminal portion of the ToMV 30-kDa protein is dispensable for virus transport in tomato. Even more important, the deletion mutants overcame the Tm-22 resistance gene. These data indicate the carboxy-terminal domain of the ToMV movement protein serves as a recognition target in the context of the Tm-22 resistance gene. Furthermore, expression of the 30-kDa movement protein from wild-type ToMV, but not from ToMV-22, in transgenic tomato plants with the Tm-22 resistance gene led to elicitation of a necrotic reaction in tomato seedlings, showing that the 30-kDa protein on its own is able to induce the plant's defense reaction.


2003 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 727-732 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. M. Karger ◽  
O. Yu. Frolova ◽  
N. V. Fedorova ◽  
L. A. Baratova ◽  
T. V. Ovchinnikova ◽  
...  

Replication of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) is connected with endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated membranes at early stages of infection. This study reports that TMV movement protein (MP)-specific protein kinases (PKs) associated with the ER of tobacco were capable of phosphorylating Thr104 in TMV MP. The MP-specific PKs with apparent molecular masses of about 45–50 kDa and 38 kDa were revealed by gel PK assays. Two types of mutations were introduced in TMV MP gene of wild-type TMV U1 genome to substitute Thr104 by neutral Ala or by negatively charged Asp. Mutation of Thr104 to Ala did not affect the size of necrotic lesions induced by the mutant virus in Nicotiana tabacum Xanthi nc. plants. Conversely, mutation of Thr to Asp mimicking Thr104 phosphorylation strongly inhibited cell-to-cell movement. The possible role of Thr104 phosphorylation in TMV MP function is discussed.


2005 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 1201-1211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atsushi Takeda ◽  
Wakako Nakamura ◽  
Nobumitsu Sasaki ◽  
Kaku Goto ◽  
Masanori Kaido ◽  
...  

Brome mosaic virus (BMV) requires encapsidation-competent coat protein (CP) for cell-to-cell movement and the 3a movement protein (MP) is involved in determining the CP requirement for BMV movement. However, these conclusions have been drawn by using BMV strain M1 (BMV-M1) and a related strain. Here, the ability of the MPs of five other natural BMV strains to mediate the movement of BMV-M1 in the absence of CP was tested. The MP of BMV M2 strain (BMV-M2) efficiently mediated the movement of CP-deficient BMV-M1 and the MPs of two other strains functioned similarly to some extent. Furthermore, BMV-M2 itself moved between cells independently of CP, demonstrating that BMV-M1 and -M2 use different movement modes. Reassortment between CP-deficient BMV-M1 and -M2 showed the involvement of RNA3 in determining the CP requirement for cell-to-cell movement and the involvement of RNAs 1 and 2 in movement efficiency and symptom induction in the absence of CP. Spontaneous BMV MP mutants generated in planta that exhibited CP-independent movement were also isolated and analysed. Comparison of the nucleotide differences of the MP genes of BMV-M1, the natural strains and mutants capable of CP-independent movement, together with further mutational analysis of BMV-M1 MP, revealed that single amino acid differences at the C terminus of MP are sufficient to alter the requirement for CP in the movement of BMV-M1. Based on these findings, a possible virus strategy in which a movement mode is selected in plant viruses to optimize viral infectivity in plants is discussed.


2013 ◽  
Vol 94 (3) ◽  
pp. 677-681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thor V. M. Fajardo ◽  
Ana Peiró ◽  
Vicente Pallás ◽  
Jesús Sánchez-Navarro

We previously showed that the movement protein (MP) gene of Alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) is functionally exchangeable for the cell-to-cell transport of the corresponding genes of Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), Brome mosaic virus, Prunus necrotic ringspot virus, Cucumber mosaic virus and Cowpea mosaic virus. We have analysed the capacity of the heterologous MPs to systemically transport the corresponding chimeric AMV genome. All MPs were competent in systemic transport but required the fusion at their C terminus of the coat protein-interacting C-terminal 44 aa (A44) of the AMV MP. Except for the TMV MP, the presence of the hybrid virus in upper leaves correlated with the capacity to move locally. These results suggest that all the MPs assigned to the 30K superfamily should be exchangeable not only for local virus movement but also for systemic transport when the A44 fragment is present.


2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (20) ◽  
pp. 10790-10798 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Corina Vlot ◽  
Sebastiaan M. Laros ◽  
John F. Bol

ABSTRACT RNAs 1 and 2 of the tripartite genome of alfalfa mosaic virus encode the replicase proteins P1 and P2, respectively, whereas RNA 3 encodes the movement protein and coat protein. Transient expression of wild-type (wt) and mutant viral RNAs and proteins by agroinfiltration of plant leaves was used to study cis- and trans-acting functions of the helicase-like domain in P1 and the polymerase-like domain in P2. Three mutations in conserved motifs of the helicase-like domain of P1 affected one or more steps leading to synthesis of minus-strand RNAs 1, 2, and 3. In leaves containing transiently expressed P1 and P2, replication of wt but not mutant RNA 1 was observed. Apparently, the transiently expressed P1 could not complement the defect in replication of the RNA 1 mutant. Moreover, the transiently expressed wt replicase supported replication of RNA 2, but this replication was blocked in trans by coexpression of mutant RNA 1. However, expression of mutant RNA 1 did not interfere with the replication of RNA 3 by the wt replicase. Similarly, a mutation in the GDD motif encoded by RNA 2 could not be complemented in trans and affected the replication of RNA 1 by a wt replicase, while replication of RNA 3 remained unaffected. In competition assays, the transient wt replicase preferentially replicated RNA 3 over RNAs 1 and 2. The results indicate that one or more functions of P1 and P2 act in cis and point to the existence of a mechanism that coordinates the replication of RNAs 1 and 2.


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