Plant Virology Laboratory, Division of Biotechnology, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur 176061, Himachal Pradesh, India.
Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India.
Viruses. 2023 Oct 9;15(10):2069. doi: 10.3390/v15102069.
commonly known as the greenhouse whitefly, severely infests important crops and serves as a vector for apple scar skin viroid (ASSVd). This vector-mediated transmission may cause the spread of infection to other herbaceous crops. For effective management of ASSVd, it is important to explore the whitefly's proteins, which interact with ASSVd RNA and are thereby involved in its transmission. In this study, it was found that a small heat shock protein (sHsp) from , which is expressed under stress, binds to ASSVd RNA. The gene is 606 bp in length and encodes for 202 amino acids, with a molecular weight of 22.98 kDa and an isoelectric point of 8.95. Intermolecular interaction was confirmed through analysis, using electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs) and northwestern assays. The sHsp22.98 protein was found to exist in both monomeric and dimeric forms, and both forms showed strong binding to ASSVd RNA. To investigate the role of sHsp22.98 during ASSVd infection, transient silencing of was conducted, using a tobacco rattle virus (TRV)-based virus-induced gene silencing system. The -silenced whiteflies showed an approximate 50% decrease in ASSVd transmission. These results suggest that sHsp22.98 from is associated with viroid RNA and plays a significant role in transmission.
通常被称为温室粉虱，严重侵害重要作物，并作为苹果疤痕皮肤类病毒（ASSVd）的载体。这种媒介介导的传播可能导致感染传播到其他草本作物。为了有效管理 ASSVd，探索粉虱与 ASSVd RNA 相互作用并参与其传播的蛋白质非常重要。在这项研究中，发现一种在应激下表达的小热休克蛋白（sHsp）与 ASSVd RNA 结合。 基因长 606bp，编码 202 个氨基酸，分子量为 22.98kDa，等电点为 8.95。通过 分析证实了分子间相互作用，使用电泳迁移率变动分析（EMSA）和 Northwestern 分析。发现 sHsp22.98 蛋白以单体和二聚体形式存在，两种形式均与 ASSVd RNA 表现出强烈的结合。为了研究 sHsp22.98 在 ASSVd 感染过程中的作用，使用烟草脆裂病毒（TRV）基于病毒诱导的基因沉默系统对 进行瞬时沉默。-沉默的粉虱中 ASSVd 的传播减少了约 50%。这些结果表明， 中的 sHsp22.98 与类病毒 RNA 相关，并在传播中发挥重要作用。
