scholarly journals Top Three Strategies of ss(+)RNA Plant Viruses: Great Opportunists and Ecosystem Tuners with a Small Genome

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 2304
Author(s):  
Volodymyr V. Oberemok ◽  
Yelizaveta V. Puzanova ◽  
Anatoly V. Kubyshkin ◽  
Rina Kamenetsky-Goldstein
Keyword(s):  
Plant Virus ◽  
Rna Viruses ◽  
Plant Viruses ◽  
Dominant Group ◽  
Pest Population ◽  
Rna Dependent Rna Polymerase ◽  
Short Life ◽  
Symbiotic Relationships ◽  
Fundamental Understanding ◽  
Viral Subtypes

ss(+)RNA viruses represent the dominant group of plant viruses. They owe their evolutionary superiority to the large number of mutations that occur during replication, courtesy of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. Natural selection rewards successful viral subtypes, whose effective tuning of the ecosystem regulates the interactions between its participants. Thus, ss(+)RNA viruses act as shuttles for the functionally important genes of the participants in symbiotic relationships within the ecosystem, of which the most common ecological triad is “plant–virus–insect”. Due to their short life cycle and large number of offspring, RNA viruses act as skillful tuners of the ecosystem, which benefits both viruses and the system as a whole. A fundamental understanding of this aspect of the role played by viruses in the ecosystem makes it possible to apply this knowledge to the creation of DNA insecticides. In fact, since the genes that viruses are involved in transferring are functionally important for both insects and plants, silencing these genes (for example, in insects) can be used to regulate the pest population. RNA viruses are increasingly treated not as micropathogens but as necessary regulators of ecosystem balance.

scholarly journals Softening of Processed Plant Virus Infected Cucumis sativus Fruits

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1451
Author(s):  
Anne-Katrin Kersten ◽  
Sabrina Scharf ◽  
Martina Bandte ◽  
Peer Martin ◽  
Peter Meurer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cucumis Sativus ◽  
Plant Virus ◽  
Plant Viruses ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Symptom Expression ◽  
Considerable Influence ◽  
Mechanical Inoculation ◽  
Morphological Alterations ◽  
Texture Properties ◽  
Textural Changes

Texture softening of pickled cucumbers does not meet consumers’ quality expectations and leads to economic losses. The factor(s) triggering this phenomenon is still unknown. We investigated the importance of plant viruses such as Cucumber green mottle mosaic tobamovirus (CGMMV) and Zucchini yellow mosaic potyvirus (ZYMV) in the context of softening of pickles. Cucumber plants (Cucumis sativus) were infected by mechanical inoculation, grown under greenhouse conditions and tested positive for the viral infection by ELISA. The severity of virus infection was reflected in yield and symptom expression. Histological and morphological alterations were observed. All fruits were pasteurized, separately stored in jars and subjected to texture measurements after four, six and 12 months. CGMMV-infections were asymptomatic or caused mild symptoms on leaves and fruit, and texture quality was comparable to control. At the same time, fruits of ZYMV-infected plants showed severe symptoms like deformations and discoloration, as well as a reduction in firmness and crunchiness after pasteurization. In addition, histological alterations were detected in such fruits, possibly causing textural changes. We conclude that plant viruses could have a considerable influence on the firmness and crunchiness of pickled cucumbers after pasteurization. It is possible that the severity of symptom expression has an influence on texture properties.

scholarly journals Novel Functional Genomics Approaches: A Promising Future in the Combat Against Plant Viruses

2016 ◽  
Vol 106 (10) ◽  
pp. 1231-1239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent N. Fondong ◽  
Ugrappa Nagalakshmi ◽  
Savithramma P. Dinesh-Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Functional Genomics ◽  
Plant Virus ◽  
Reverse Genetics ◽  
Plant Viruses ◽  
Micro Rna ◽  
Viral Genomes ◽  
Virus Control ◽  
Local Lesions ◽  
Short Palindromic Repeat ◽  
Interfering Rna

Advances in functional genomics and genome editing approaches have provided new opportunities and potential to accelerate plant virus control efforts through modification of host and viral genomes in a precise and predictable manner. Here, we discuss application of RNA-based technologies, including artificial micro RNA, transacting small interfering RNA, and Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat–associated protein 9), which are currently being successfully deployed in generating virus-resistant plants. We further discuss the reverse genetics approach, targeting induced local lesions in genomes (TILLING) and its variant, known as EcoTILLING, that are used in the identification of plant virus recessive resistance gene alleles. In addition to describing specific applications of these technologies in plant virus control, this review discusses their advantages and limitations.

scholarly journals Structural and Nonstructural Genes Contribute to the Genetic Diversity of RNA Viruses

mBio ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie D. Collins ◽  
Andrew S. Beck ◽  
Steven G. Widen ◽  
Thomas G. Wood ◽  
Stephen Higgs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Yellow Fever ◽  
Yellow Fever Virus ◽  
Rna Viruses ◽  
Rna Virus ◽  
Infectious Clone ◽  
Vaccine Virus ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Rna Dependent Rna Polymerase ◽  
Replication Complex

ABSTRACT One paradigm to explain the complexity of viral RNA populations is that the low fidelity of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) drives high mutation rates and consequently genetic diversity. Like most RNA viruses, wild-type yellow fever virus (YFV) replication is error-prone due to the lack of proofreading by the virus-encoded RdRp. However, there is evidence that replication of the live attenuated YF vaccine virus 17D, derived from wild-type strain Asibi, is less error-prone than wild-type RNA viruses. Recent studies comparing the genetic diversity of wild-type Asibi and 17D vaccine virus found that wild-type Asibi has the typical heterogeneous population of an RNA virus, while there is limited intra- and interpopulation variability of 17D vaccine virus. Utilizing chimeric and mutant infectious clone-derived viruses, we show that high and low genetic diversity profiles of wild-type Asibi virus and vaccine virus 17D, respectively, are multigenic. Introduction of either structural (pre-membrane and envelope) genes or NS2B or NS4B substitutions into the Asibi and 17D backbone resulted in altered variant population, nucleotide diversity, and mutation frequency compared to the parental viruses. Additionally, changes in genetic diversity of the chimeric and mutant viruses correlated with the phenotype of multiplication kinetics in human alveolar A549 cells. Overall, the paradigm that only the error-prone RdRp controls genetic diversity needs to be expanded to address the role of other genes in genetic diversity, and we hypothesize that it is the replication complex as a whole and not the RdRp alone that controls genetic diversity. IMPORTANCE With the advent of advanced sequencing technology, studies of RNA viruses have shown that genetic diversity can contribute to both attenuation and virulence and the paradigm is that this is controlled by the error-prone RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). Since wild-type yellow fever virus (YFV) strain Asibi has genetic diversity typical of a wild-type RNA virus, while 17D virus vaccine has limited diversity, it provides a unique opportunity to investigate RNA population theory in the context of a well-characterized live attenuated vaccine. Utilizing infectious clone-derived viruses, we show that genetic diversity of RNA viruses is complex and that multiple genes, including structural genes and NS2B and NS4B genes also contribute to genetic diversity. We suggest that the replication complex as a whole, rather than only RdRp, drives genetic diversity, at least for YFV.

scholarly journals An exploration of ambigrammatic sequences in narnaviruses

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph L. DeRisi ◽  
Greg Huber ◽  
Amy Kistler ◽  
Hanna Retallack ◽  
Michael Wilkinson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
De Novo ◽  
Rna Viruses ◽  
Nucleotide Substitutions ◽  
Rna Dependent Rna Polymerase ◽  
Single Nucleotide ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Reverse Complement ◽  
Positive Sense ◽  
Reverse Strand ◽  
Coding Strategy

ABSTRACTNarnaviruses have been described as positive-sense RNA viruses with a remarkably simple genome of ∼ 3 kb, encoding only a highly conserved RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). Many narnaviruses, however, are ‘ambigrammatic’ and harbour an additional uninterrupted open reading frame (ORF) covering almost the entire length of the reverse complement strand. No function has been described for this ORF, yet the absence of stops is conserved across diverse narnaviruses, and in every case the codons in the reverse ORF and the RdRp are aligned. The > 3 kb ORF overlap on opposite strands, unprecedented among RNA viruses, motivates an exploration of the constraints imposed or alleviated by the codon alignment. Here, we show that only when the codon frames are aligned can all stop codons be eliminated from the reverse strand by synonymous single-nucleotide substitutions in the RdRp gene, suggesting a mechanism for de novo gene creation within a strongly conserved amino-acid sequence. It will be fascinating to explore what implications this coding strategy has for other aspects of narnavirus biology. Beyond narnaviruses, our rapidly expanding catalogue of viral diversity may yet reveal additional examples of this broadly-extensible principle for ambigrammatic-sequence development.

scholarly journals Recent Advances in the Use of Plant Virus-Like Particles as Vaccines

Viruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ina Balke ◽  
Andris Zeltins
Keyword(s):  
Plant Virus ◽  
Plant Viruses ◽  
Therapeutic Vaccines ◽  
Virus Like Particles ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Central Elements ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Anticancer Vaccines ◽  
Effective Public Health ◽  
Near Future

Vaccination is one of the most effective public health interventions of the 20th century. All vaccines can be classified into different types, such as vaccines against infectious diseases, anticancer vaccines and vaccines against autoimmune diseases. In recent decades, recombinant technologies have enabled the design of experimental vaccines against a wide range of diseases using plant viruses and virus-like particles as central elements to stimulate protective and long-lasting immune responses. The analysis of recent publications shows that at least 97 experimental vaccines have been constructed based on plant viruses, including 71 vaccines against infectious agents, 16 anticancer vaccines and 10 therapeutic vaccines against autoimmune disorders. Several plant viruses have already been used for the development of vaccine platforms and have been tested in human and veterinary studies, suggesting that plant virus-based vaccines will be introduced into clinical and veterinary practice in the near future.

scholarly journals An exploration of ambigrammatic sequences in narnaviruses

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph L. DeRisi ◽  
Greg Huber ◽  
Amy Kistler ◽  
Hanna Retallack ◽  
Michael Wilkinson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
De Novo ◽  
Rna Viruses ◽  
Nucleotide Substitutions ◽  
Rna Dependent Rna Polymerase ◽  
Single Nucleotide ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Reverse Complement ◽  
Positive Sense ◽  
Reverse Strand ◽  
Coding Strategy

AbstractNarnaviruses have been described as positive-sense RNA viruses with a remarkably simple genome of ~3 kb, encoding only a highly conserved RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). Many narnaviruses, however, are ‘ambigrammatic’ and harbour an additional uninterrupted open reading frame (ORF) covering almost the entire length of the reverse complement strand. No function has been described for this ORF, yet the absence of stops is conserved across diverse narnaviruses, and in every case the codons in the reverse ORF and the RdRp are aligned. The >3 kb ORF overlap on opposite strands, unprecedented among RNA viruses, motivates an exploration of the constraints imposed or alleviated by the codon alignment. Here, we show that only when the codon frames are aligned can all stop codons be eliminated from the reverse strand by synonymous single-nucleotide substitutions in the RdRp gene, suggesting a mechanism for de novo gene creation within a strongly conserved amino-acid sequence. It will be fascinating to explore what implications this coding strategy has for other aspects of narnavirus biology. Beyond narnaviruses, our rapidly expanding catalogue of viral diversity may yet reveal additional examples of this broadly-extensible principle for ambigrammatic-sequence development.

scholarly journals Suppression of RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase 6 Favors the Accumulation of Potato Spindle Tuber Viroid in Nicotiana Benthamiana

Viruses ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charith Raj Adkar-Purushothama ◽  
Jean-Pierre Perreault
Keyword(s):  
Nicotiana Benthamiana ◽  
Small Rnas ◽  
Rna Viruses ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Potato Spindle Tuber Viroid ◽  
Rna Dependent Rna Polymerase ◽  
Viroid Infection ◽  
Genes Encoding ◽  
Plant Genes

To date, two plant genes encoding RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRs) that play major roles in the defense against RNA viruses have been identified: (i) RdR1, which is responsible for the viral small RNAs (vsRNAs) found in virus-infected plants, and, (ii) RdR6, which acts as a surrogate in the absence of RdR1. In this study, the role of RdR6 in the defense against viroid infection was examined by knock-down of RdR6 followed by potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd) infection. The suppression of RdR6 expression increased the plant’s growth, as was illustrated by the plant’s increased height. PSTVd infection of RdR6 compromised plants resulted in an approximately three-fold increase in the accumulation of viroid RNA as compared to that seen in control plants. Additionally, RNA gel blot assay revealed an increase in the number of viroids derived small RNAs in RdR6 suppressed plants as compared to control plants. These data provide a direct correlation between RdR6 and viroid accumulation and indicate the role of RDR6 in the plant’s susceptibility to viroid infection.

Der Zusammenhang zwischen dem Molekulargewicht pflanzlicher Viren und der spektrophotometrisch bestimmbaren Größe bv

1959 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 432-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. L. Paul
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Weight ◽  
Plant Virus ◽  
Plant Viruses ◽  
Straight Line ◽  
Semilogarithmic Scale

The correlation between molecular weight (MW) of plant viruses and the spectrophotometric value bv (see the preceeding paper) has been established. The dependence of bv on the MW is represented by a straight line on a semilogarithmic scale. By means of this line it is possible to evaluate the MW of a plant virus by measuring bv if the virus entity is a pure ribonucleoproteine containing RNA of a MW of 2 · 106. The resulting value for the MW of the virus is not affected by aggregation or breakdown of the virus, but is disturbed by proteine or nucleoproteine impurities. Therefore, it can be concluded that a preparation of a given virus contains non-virus components if the correlation of figure 1 is not fulfilled satisfactorily.

scholarly journals Plant Virus Metagenomics: Advances in Virus Discovery

2015 ◽  
Vol 105 (6) ◽  
pp. 716-727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilyn J. Roossinck ◽  
Darren P. Martin ◽  
Philippe Roumagnac
Keyword(s):  
Nucleic Acids ◽  
Deep Sequencing ◽  
Plant Virus ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Plant Viruses ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Cultivated Plants ◽  
Virus Discovery ◽  
Virus Infections ◽  
Virus Like Particles

In recent years plant viruses have been detected from many environments, including domestic and wild plants and interfaces between these systems—aquatic sources, feces of various animals, and insects. A variety of methods have been employed to study plant virus biodiversity, including enrichment for virus-like particles or virus-specific RNA or DNA, or the extraction of total nucleic acids, followed by next-generation deep sequencing and bioinformatic analyses. All of the methods have some shortcomings, but taken together these studies reveal our surprising lack of knowledge about plant viruses and point to the need for more comprehensive studies. In addition, many new viruses have been discovered, with most virus infections in wild plants appearing asymptomatic, suggesting that virus disease may be a byproduct of domestication. For plant pathologists these studies are providing useful tools to detect viruses, and perhaps to predict future problems that could threaten cultivated plants.

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