The SNARE protein Syp71 is essential for turnip mosaic virus infection by mediating fusion of virus-induced vesicles with chloroplasts.

All positive-strand RNA viruses induce the biogenesis of cytoplasmic membrane-bound virus factories for viral genome multiplication. We have previously demonstrated that upon plant potyvirus infection, the potyviral 6K2 integral membrane protein induces the formation of ER-derived replication vesicles that subsequently target chloroplasts for robust genome replication. Here, we report that following the trafficking of the Turnip mosaic potyvirus (TuMV) 6K2 vesicles to chloroplasts, 6K2 vesicles accumulate at the chloroplasts to form chloroplast-bound elongated tubular structures followed by chloroplast aggregation. A functional actomyosin motility system is required for this process. As vesicle trafficking and fusion in planta are facilitated by a superfamily of proteins known as SNAREs (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive-factor attachment protein receptors), we screened ER-localized SNARES or SNARE-like proteins for their possible involvement in TuMV infection. We identified Syp71 and Vap27-1 that colocalize with the chloroplast-bound 6K2 complex. Knockdown of their expression using a Tobacco rattle virus (TRV)-based virus-induced gene silencing vector showed that Syp71 but not Vap27-1 is essential for TuMV infection. In Syp71-downregulated plant cells, the formation of 6K2-induced chloroplast-bound elongated tubular structures and chloroplast aggregates is inhibited and virus accumulation is significantly reduced, but the trafficking of the 6K2 vesicles from the ER to chloroplast is not affected. Taken together, these data suggest that Syp71 is a host factor essential for successful virus infection by mediating the fusion of the virus-induced vesicles with chloroplasts during TuMV infection.