scholarly journals Application of Plant Viruses in Biotechnology, Medicine, and Human Health

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1697
Author(s):  
Srividhya Venkataraman ◽  
Kathleen Hefferon

Plant-based nanotechnology programs using virus-like particles (VLPs) and virus nanoparticles (VNPs) are emerging platforms that are increasingly used for a variety of applications in biotechnology and medicine. Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and potato virus X (PVX), by virtue of having high aspect ratios, make ideal platforms for drug delivery. TMV and PVX both possess rod-shaped structures and single-stranded RNA genomes encapsidated by their respective capsid proteins and have shown great promise as drug delivery systems. Cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) has an icosahedral structure, and thus brings unique benefits as a nanoparticle. The uses of these three plant viruses as either nanostructures or expression vectors for high value pharmaceutical proteins such as vaccines and antibodies are discussed extensively in the following review. In addition, the potential uses of geminiviruses in medical biotechnology are explored. The uses of these expression vectors in plant biotechnology applications are also discussed. Finally, in this review, we project future prospects for plant viruses in the fields of medicine, human health, prophylaxis, and therapy of human diseases.

2006 ◽  
Vol 87 (10) ◽  
pp. 3103-3112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Lico ◽  
Floriana Capuano ◽  
Giovanni Renzone ◽  
Marcello Donini ◽  
Carla Marusic ◽  
...  

The potexvirus Potato virus X (PVX) can be modified genetically to generate chimeric virus particles (CVPs) carrying heterologous peptides fused to coat protein (CP) subunits. A spontaneous PVX mutant expressing a truncated, but functional, form of the CP has been isolated. With the aim of exploiting this virus to display peptides useful for vaccine formulations, two novel viral expression vectors based on pPVX201 (bearing the wild-type PVX genome) were constructed encoding the truncated CP. Both vectors were able to produce infectious virus particles in planta and were used to insert a panel of sequences encoding peptides of biopharmaceutical interest as N-terminal fusions to the truncated cp gene. The analysis of infection progression induced by the different constructs enabled identification of two important structural features of the fused peptide, namely tryptophan content and isoelectric point, critically affecting the formation of PVX CVPs and virus movement through the plant. These results are discussed in view of the rising interest in engineered plant viruses for development of peptide-based epitope vaccines.


2012 ◽  
Vol 93 (8) ◽  
pp. 1841-1850 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ida Bagus Andika ◽  
Hideki Kondo ◽  
Masamichi Nishiguchi ◽  
Tetsuo Tamada

Many plant viruses encode proteins that suppress RNA silencing, but little is known about the activity of silencing suppressors in roots. This study examined differences in the silencing suppression activity of different viruses in leaves and roots of Nicotiana benthamiana plants. Infection by tobacco mosaic virus, potato virus Y and cucumber mosaic virus but not potato virus X (PVX) resulted in strong silencing suppression activity of a transgene in both leaves and roots, whereas infection by beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) and tobacco rattle virus (TRV) showed transgene silencing suppression in roots but not in leaves. For most viruses tested, viral negative-strand RNA accumulated at a very low level in roots, compared with considerable levels of positive-strand genomic RNA. Co-inoculation of leaves with PVX and either BNYVV or TRV produced an increase in PVX negative-strand RNA and subgenomic RNA (sgRNA) accumulation in roots. The cysteine-rich proteins (CRPs) BNYVV p14 and TRV 16K showed weak silencing suppression activity in leaves. However, when either of these CRPs was expressed from a PVX vector, there was an enhancement of PVX negative-strand RNA and sgRNA accumulation in roots compared with PVX alone. Such enhancement of PVX sgRNAs was also observed by expression of CRPs of other viruses and the well-known suppressors HC-Pro and p19 but not of the potato mop-top virus p8 CRP. These results indicate that BNYVV- and TRV-encoded CRPs suppress RNA silencing more efficiently in roots than in leaves.


2007 ◽  
Vol 88 (4) ◽  
pp. 1347-1355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bong-Nam Chung ◽  
Tomas Canto ◽  
Peter Palukaitis

The stability of hybrid plant viruses that might arise by recombination in transgenic plants was examined using hybrid viruses derived from the viral expression vectors potato virus X (PVX) and tobacco rattle virus (TRV). The potato virus Y (PVY) NIb and HCPro open reading frames (ORFs) were introduced into PVX to generate PVX-NIb and PVX-HCPro, while the PVY NIb ORF was introduced into a vector derived from TRV RNA2 to generate TRV-NIb. All three viruses were unstable and most of the progeny viruses had lost the inserted sequences between 2 and 4 weeks post-inoculation. There was some variation in the rate of loss of part or all of the inserted sequence and the number of plants containing the deleted viruses, depending on the sequence, the host (Nicotiana tabacum vs Nicotiana benthamiana) or the vector, although none of these factors was associated consistently with the preferential loss of the inserted sequences. PVX-NIb was unable to accumulate in NIb-transgenic tobacco resistant to infection by PVY and also showed loss of the NIb insert from PVX-NIb in some NIb-transgenic tobacco plants susceptible to infection by PVY. These data indicate that such hybrid viruses, formed in resistant transgenic plants from a transgene and an unrelated virus, would be at a selective disadvantage, first by being targeted by the resistance mechanism and second by not being competitive with the parental virus.


Parasitology ◽  
1941 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 320-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth M. Smith ◽  
W. D. MacClement

An account is given of ultrafiltration studies with 9 plant viruses. It is shown that 3 of these viruses filter in a consistent manner and appear to have approximately spherical particles. These three are Lycopersicum virus 4 (tomato bushy stunt virus), Nicotiana virus 11 (tobacco necrosis virus) and Nicotiana virus 12 (tobacco ringspot virus). The filtration end-point of 40 mμ is the same in each case and from this a particle diameter of 13–20 mμ is calculated. There is a peculiarity, however, in the filtration curve of tobacco necrosis virus which shows itself in a “bench” or “shelf” and which suggests either a polydisperse system or some degree of dissymmetry of particle shape.Great difficulty was experienced in filtering Nicotiana virus 1 (tobacco mosaic virus) and its strains. A value of 13–20 mμ was obtained for the particle diameter of the type virus and this agrees well with measurements obtained by other methods. The filtration results, however, suggest that the infective units are not of the same length and that this variability may be considerable. Similar difficulty was experienced in filtering Solanum virus 1 (potato virus X), another rod-shaped virus; the end-point was found to be 100 mμ, from which a particle diameter of 33–50 mμ is calculated. It was not possible to obtain a definite filtration end-point for Cucumis virus 1 (cucumber mosaic virus), probably because of the low initial concentration of virus in the extracted sap.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Jiang ◽  
Eric Yu ◽  
Clare L L Casteel

To establish successful infections, plant viruses compete with the host plants for limited resources and thus alter the physiological state of the plants. After successful infection, insect vectors are required for the transmission of some plant viruses to the next host plant. One of the largest groups of plant viruses, the potyvirus, can be transmitted by aphids. During transmission, the potyvirus protein helper component proteinase (HC-Pro) binds to the yet-to-be-defined aphid receptor on the stylet, as well as to the virus particles through the Asp-Ala-Gly (DAG) motif of the viral coat protein. Previously it was determined that a naturally occurring DAG motif in the non-aphid transmissible potexvirus, Potato aucuba mosaic potexvirus (PAMV), is functional when the HC-Pro is provided through co-infection with a potyvirus. Further, the DAG motif of PAMV can be successfully transferred to another non-aphid transmissible potexvirus, Potato virus X (PVX), to convey aphid transmission capabilities. We expand on this previous work by demonstrating, the DAG motif from two different potyviruses, Sugarcane mosaic virus and Turnip mosaic virus, as well as the DAG motif from the previous potexvirus PAMV, can be added to another non-aphid transmissible potexvirus, Foxtail mosaic virus (FoMV), to make it aphid transmissible. Transmission efficiency varied from less than 10% to over 80% depending on the DAG motif and host plant used in transmission, suggesting not all DAG motifs are equal for engineering aphid transmission. The underlying mechanisms mediating this variation still need to be explored.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (11) ◽  
pp. 1475-1486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuki Matsuo ◽  
Fawzia Novianti ◽  
Miki Takehara ◽  
Toshiyuki Fukuhara ◽  
Tsutomu Arie ◽  
...  

Plant activators, including acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM), are chemical compounds that stimulate plant defense responses to pathogens. ASM treatment inhibits infection by a variety of plant viruses, however, the mechanisms of this broad-spectrum and strong effect remain poorly understood. We employed green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing viruses and Nicotiana benthamiana plants to identify the infection stages that are restricted by ASM. ASM suppressed infection by three viral species, plantago asiatica mosaic virus (PlAMV), potato virus X (PVX), and turnip mosaic virus (TuMV), in inoculated cells. Furthermore, ASM delayed the long-distance movement of PlAMV and PVX, and the cell-to-cell (short range) movement of TuMV. The ASM-mediated delay of long-distance movement of PlAMV was not due to the suppression of viral accumulation in the inoculated leaves, indicating that ASM restricts PlAMV infection in at least two independent steps. We used Arabidopsis thaliana mutants to show that the ASM-mediated restriction of PlAMV infection requires the NPR1 gene but was independent of the dicer-like genes essential for RNA silencing. Furthermore, experiments using protoplasts showed that ASM treatment inhibited PlAMV replication without cell death. Our approach, using GFP-expressing viruses, will be useful for the analysis of mechanisms underlying plant activator–mediated virus restriction.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuri Drygin ◽  
Olga Kondakova ◽  
Joseph Atabekov

Platinum atom clusters (Pt nanoparticles, Pt-NPs) were produced selectively at one end of helical plant viruses, tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and potato virus X (PVX), when platinum coordinate compounds were reduced chemically by borohydrides. Size of the platinum NPs depends on conditions of the electroless deposition of platinum atoms on the virus. Results suggest that the Pt-NPs are bound concurrently to the terminal protein subunits and the 5′ end of encapsidated TMV RNA. Thus, a special structure of tobacco mosaic virus and potato X virus particles with nanoparticles of platinum, which looks like a push-pin with platinum head and virus needle, was obtained. Similar results were obtained with ultrasonically fragmented TMV particles. By contrast, the Pt-NPs fully filled the central axial hole ofin vitroassembled RNA-free TMV-like particles. We believe that the results presented here will be valuable in the fundamental understanding of interaction of viral platforms with ionic metals and in a mechanism of nanoparticles formation.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1922
Author(s):  
Ramila Mammadova ◽  
Immacolata Fiume ◽  
Ramesh Bokka ◽  
Veronika Kralj-Iglič ◽  
Darja Božič ◽  
...  

Plant-derived nanovesicles (NVs) have attracted interest due to their anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antioxidative properties and their efficient uptake by human intestinal epithelial cells. Previously we showed that tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) fruit is one of the interesting plant resources from which NVs can be obtained at a high yield. In the course of the isolation of NVs from different batches of tomatoes, using the established differential ultracentrifugation or size-exclusion chromatography methods, we occasionally observed the co-isolation of viral particles. Density gradient ultracentrifugation (gUC), using sucrose or iodixanol gradient materials, turned out to be efficient in the separation of NVs from the viral particles. We applied cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for the morphological assessment and LC–MS/MS-based proteomics for the protein identification of the gradient fractions. Cryo-TEM showed that a low-density gUC fraction was enriched in membrane-enclosed NVs, while the high-density fractions were rich in rod-shaped objects. Mass spectrometry–based proteomic analysis identified capsid proteins of tomato brown rugose fruit virus, tomato mosaic virus and tomato mottle mosaic virus. In another batch of tomatoes, we isolated tomato spotted wilt virus, potato virus Y and southern tomato virus in the vesicle sample. Our results show the frequent co-isolation of plant viruses with NVs and the utility of the combination of cryo-TEM, SEM and proteomics in the detection of possible viral contamination.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Gobert ◽  
Yifat Quan ◽  
Mathilde Arrivé ◽  
Florent Waltz ◽  
Nathalie Da Silva ◽  
...  

AbstractPlant viruses cause massive crop yield loss worldwide. Most plant viruses are RNA viruses, many of which contain a functional tRNA-like structure. RNase P has the enzymatic activity to catalyze the 5′ maturation of precursor tRNAs. It is also able to cleave tRNA-like structures. However, RNase P enzymes only accumulate in the nucleus, mitochondria, and chloroplasts rather than cytosol where virus replication takes place. Here, we report a biotechnology strategy based on the re-localization of plant protein-only RNase P to the cytosol (CytoRP) to target plant viruses tRNA-like structures and thus hamper virus replication. We demonstrate the cytosol localization of protein-only RNase P in Arabidopsis protoplasts. In addition, we provide in vitro evidences for CytoRP to cleave turnip yellow mosaic virus and oilseed rape mosaic virus. However, we observe varied in vivo results. The possible reasons have been discussed. Overall, the results provided here show the potential of using CytoRP for combating some plant viral diseases.


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