Lindenau Svenja, Winter Stephan, Margaria Paolo
Plant Virus Department, Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany.
Plants (Basel). 2021 Dec 15;10(12):2771. doi: 10.3390/plants10122771.
Most plant viruses rely on vector transmission for their spread and specific interactions between vector and virus have evolved to regulate this relationship. The whitefly - transmitted cucumber vein yellowing virus (CVYV; genus , family ) is endemic in the Mediterranean Basin, where it causes significant losses in cucurbit crops. In this study, the role of the coat protein (CP) of CVYV for transmission and plant infection was investigated using a cloned and infectious CVYV cDNA and a collection of point and deletion mutants derived from this clone. Whitefly transmission of CVYV was abolished in a deletion mutant lacking amino acids in position 93-105 of the CP. This deletion mutant caused more severe disease symptoms compared to the cDNA clone representing the wild-type (wt) virus and movement efficiency was likewise affected. Two virus mutants carrying a partially restored CP were transmissible and showed symptoms comparable to the wt virus. Collectively, our data demonstrate that the N-terminus of the CVYV CP is a determinant for transmission by the whitefly vector and is involved in plant infection and symptom expression.
大多数植物病毒依靠媒介传播来扩散，并且媒介与病毒之间已进化出特定的相互作用来调节这种关系。粉虱传播的黄瓜叶脉黄化病毒（CVYV；属，科）在地中海盆地流行，在那里它会给葫芦科作物造成重大损失。在本研究中，利用克隆的具有感染性的CVYV cDNA以及从该克隆衍生而来的一系列点突变和缺失突变体，研究了CVYV外壳蛋白（CP）在传播和植物感染中的作用。在CP第93 - 105位氨基酸缺失的缺失突变体中，CVYV的粉虱传播被消除。与代表野生型（wt）病毒的cDNA克隆相比，该缺失突变体导致更严重的病害症状，并且移动效率同样受到影响。两个携带部分恢复CP的病毒突变体是可传播的，并且表现出与wt病毒相当的症状。总体而言，我们的数据表明CVYV CP的N端是粉虱媒介传播的决定因素，并且参与植物感染和症状表达。
