Dual-colour imaging of membrane protein targeting directed by poa semilatent virus movement protein TGBp3 in plant and mammalian cells. (1/13)

The movement function of poa semilatent hordeivirus (PSLV) is mediated by the triple gene block (TGB) proteins, of which two, TGBp2 and TGBp3, are membrane proteins. TGBp3 is localized to peripheral bodies in the vicinity of the plasma membrane and is able to re-direct TGBp2 from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the peripheral bodies. For imaging of TGBp3-mediated protein targeting, PSLV TGBp3 tagged with a red fluorescent protein (DsRed) was used. Coexpression of DsRed-TGBp3 with GFP targeted to the ER lumen (ER-GFP) demonstrated that ER-GFP was contained in typical ER structures and peripheral bodies formed by TGBp3 protein, suggesting an ER origin for these bodies. In transient coexpression with viral membrane proteins tagged with GFP, DsRed-TGBp3 directed to the peripheral bodies the homologous TGBp2 protein and two unrelated membrane proteins, the 6 kDa movement protein of beet yellows closterovirus and the putative movement protein encoded by the genome component 4 of faba bean necrotic yellows nanovirus. However, coexpression of TGBp3 with GFP derivatives targeted to the ER membranes by artificial hydrophobic tail sequences suggested that targeting to the ER membranes per se was not sufficient for TGBp3-directed protein trafficking to peripheral bodies. TGBp3-induced targeting of TGBp2 also occurred in mammalian cells, indicating the universal nature of the protein trafficking signals and the cotargeting mechanism.  (+info)

Adaptation from whitefly to leafhopper transmission of an autonomously replicating nanovirus-like DNA component associated with ageratum yellow vein disease. (2/13)

Ageratum yellow vein disease is caused by the whitefly-transmitted monopartite begomovirus Ageratum yellow vein virus and a DNA beta satellite component. Naturally occurring symptomatic plants also contain an autonomously replicating nanovirus-like DNA 1 component that relies on the begomovirus and DNA beta for systemic spread and whitefly transmission but is not required for maintenance of the disease. Here, we show that systemic movement of DNA 1 occurs in Nicotiana benthamiana when co-inoculated with the bipartite begomovirus Tomato golden mosaic virus and the curtovirus Beet curly top virus (BCTV), but not with the mastrevirus Bean yellow dwarf virus. BCTV also mediates the systemic movement of DNA 1 in sugar beet, and the nanovirus-like component is transmitted between plants by the BCTV leafhopper vector Circulifer tenellus. We also describe a second nanovirus-like component, referred to as DNA 2, that has only 47% nucleotide sequence identity with DNA 1. The diversity and adaptation of nanovirus components are discussed.  (+info)

Characteristics of the promoters derived from the single-stranded DNA components of Milk vetch dwarf virus in transgenic tobacco. (3/13)

Predicted promoter regions of Milk vetch dwarf virus (MDV) components (C1-C11) were isolated and fused with a beta-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene and the characteristics of the promoters were examined. In transgenic tobacco calli, promoters of MDV C4 (encoding a cell-cycle link protein), C5 and C7 (both encoding unknown proteins), C6 (encoding a nuclear-shuttle protein) and C8 (encoding a movement protein) generated a stronger level of GUS expression than the Cauliflower mosaic virus 35S RNA promoter (P35S). In leaves of transgenic tobacco plants, the promoters of C5 and C8 conferred a level of GUS activity comparable to that of P35S. Histochemical GUS analysis showed that the promoters of C4-C9, the latter encoding a capsid protein, were active in phloem and meristematic tissue. The promoter of C8 was also active in mesophyll and cortex cell types. A low level of activity was found for the promoters of C11, which encodes a master replication-initiator protein (Rep), and C1, C2, C3 and C10, which encode additional Reps, in both transgenic tobacco calli and plants.  (+info)

A functional histidine-tagged replication initiator protein: implications for the study of single-stranded DNA virus replication in planta. (4/13)

Replication initiation of nanoviruses, plant viruses with a multipartite circular single-stranded DNA genome, is triggered by the master Rep (M-Rep) protein. To enable the study of interactions between M-Rep and viral or host factors involved in replication, we designed oligohistidine-tagged variants of the nanovirus Faba bean necrotic yellows virus (FBNYV) M-Rep protein that allow affinity purification of enzymatically active M-Rep from plant tissue. The tagged M-Rep protein was able to initiate replication of its cognate and other FBNYV DNAs in Nicotiana benthamiana leaf disks and plants. The replicon encoding the tagged M-Rep protein multiplied and moved systemically in FBNYV-infected Vicia faba plants and was transmitted by the aphid vector of the virus. Using the tagged M-Rep protein, we demonstrated the in planta interaction between wild-type M-Rep and its tagged counterpart. Such a tagged and fully functional replication initiator protein will have bearings on the isolation of protein complexes from plants.  (+info)

Infectivity of nanovirus DNAs: induction of disease by cloned genome components of Faba bean necrotic yellows virus. (5/13)

Circumstantial evidence suggests that the genome of Faba bean necrotic yellows virus (FBNYV), a nanovirus, consists of eight distinct, circular, single-stranded DNAs, each of about 1 kb and encoding only one protein. Here, the use of cloned full-length FBNYV DNAs for reproducing FBNYV-like symptoms in Vicia faba, the principal natural host of FBNYV, is reported. Characteristic symptoms of FBNYV infection were obtained in faba bean plants following biolistic DNA delivery or agroinoculation with all eight FBNYV DNAs. Although the eight different DNAs have been invariably detected in field samples infected with the various geographical FBNYV isolates, experimental infection with different combinations of fewer than eight DNAs also led to typical FBNYV symptoms. Even only five genome components, DNA-R, DNA-S, DNA-M, DNA-U1 and DNA-U2, were sufficient for inducing disease symptoms in V. faba upon agroinoculation. Symptomatic plants agroinoculated or bombarded with eight DNAs contained typical FBNYV virions; however, the virus was not transmitted by Aphis craccivora or Acyrthosiphon pisum, two efficient aphid vectors of FBNYV.  (+info)

An iterated sequence in the genome of Banana bunchy top virus is essential for efficient replication. (6/13)

Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV) has a multi-component genome of circular, single-stranded DNA. BBTV replicates via a rolling-circle mechanism, probably involving sequence-specific interaction of the replication initiation protein (Rep) with iterated sequences (iterons) within the viral genome. Three putative iterons (designated F1, F2 and R), with the sequence GGGAC, have been identified in the intergenic region of each BBTV component. To investigate their role in replication, each of the iterons was mutated, singularly and in tandem, in a BBTV DNA-N 1.1mer and the ability of these molecules to be replicated by the BBTV 'master' Rep was evaluated in banana cells using transient biolistic assays. All iteron mutants were replicated less efficiently than the native DNA-N. Mutation of the F1 and R iterons caused a 42 and 62 % reduction in DNA-N replication, respectively, whereas mutation of the F2 and combined F1F2 iteron virtually abolished DNA-N replication.  (+info)

The nanovirus-encoded Clink protein affects plant cell cycle regulation through interaction with the retinoblastoma-related protein. (7/13)

Nanoviruses, multicomponent single-stranded DNA plant viruses, encode a unique cell cycle link protein, Clink, that interacts with retinoblastoma-related proteins (RBR). We have established transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana lines that conditionally express Clink or a Clink variant deficient in RBR binding. By controlled induction of Clink expression, we demonstrated the capacity of the Clink protein to alter RBR function in vivo. We showed that transcription of both S-phase-specific and G2/M-phase-specific genes was up-regulated depending on the RBR-binding proficiency of Clink. Concomitantly, ploidy levels increased in a substantial fraction of leaf cell nuclei. Also, leaf epidermis cells of transgenic plants producing Clink were smaller and more numerous, indicating additional cell divisions in this tissue. Furthermore, cytogenetic analyses following induction of Clink expression in mature leaves revealed the presence of metaphasic and anaphasic nuclei, clear evidence that Clink-mediated RBR inactivation is sufficient to induce quiescent cells to reenter cell cycle progression and, for at least a fraction of them, to pass through mitosis. Expression of Clink had no effect on genes transcribed by RNA polymerases I and III, suggesting that, in contrast to its mammalian homologue, A. thaliana RBR is not involved in the repression of polymerase I and polymerase III transcription. The results of these in vivo analyses firmly establish Clink as a member of the diverse class of multifunctional cell cycle modulator proteins encoded by small DNA viruses.  (+info)

Solution structure of the endonuclease domain from the master replication initiator protein of the nanovirus faba bean necrotic yellows virus and comparison with the corresponding geminivirus and circovirus structures. (8/13)

Nanoviruses are a family of plant viruses that possess a genome of multiple circular single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) components and are strikingly similar in their replication mode to the plant geminiviruses and to the circoviruses that infect birds or mammals. These viruses multiply by rolling circle replication using virus-encoded multifunctional replication initiator proteins (Rep proteins) that catalyze the initiation of replication on a double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) intermediate and the resolution of the ssDNA into circles. Here we report the solution NMR three-dimensional structure of the endonuclease domain from the master Rep (M-Rep) protein of faba bean necrotic yellows virus (FBNYV), a representative of the nanoviruses. The domain comprises amino acids 2-95 (M-Rep2-95), and its global fold is similar to those previously described for the gemini- and circovirus Rep endonuclease domains, consisting of a central 5-stranded antiparallel beta-sheet covered on one side by an alpha-helix and irregular loops and on the other, more open side of the domain, by an alpha-helix containing the catalytic tyrosine residue (the catalytic helix). Longer domain constructs extending to amino acids 117 and 124 were also characterized. They contain an additional alpha-helix, are monomeric, and exhibit catalytic activity indistinguishable from that of M-Rep2-95. The binding site for the catalytic metal was identified by paramagnetic broadening and maps to residues on the exposed face of the central beta-sheet. A comparison with the previously determined Rep endonuclease domain structures of tomato yellow leaf curl Sardinia virus (TYLCSV), a geminivirus, and that of porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) Rep allows the identification of a positively charged surface that is most likely involved in dsDNA binding, and reveals common features shared by all endonuclease domains of nanovirus, geminivirus, and circovirus Rep proteins.  (+info)