NbMLP43 Ubiquitination and Proteasomal Degradation via the Light Responsive Factor NbBBX24 to Promote Viral Infection

Deciphering intricate plant-virus interactions: Potyvirids orchestrate protein posttranslational modifications to regulate pathogenicity

In a molecular-arm-race between viruses and their hosts, viruses have evolved to harness their host's post-translational modifications (PTMs) machinery to gain a competitive edge. These modifications are the most reliable target of plant viruses to overcome the host defence for successful infection. Relatively fewer PTMs i.e., phosphorylation, O-GlcNAcylation, Ubiquitination, and SUMOylation have been studied regulating the potyvirus-plant interaction. Therefore, it is worth drawing attention towards the importance and potential of this undermined but key strategy of potyvirids (members of family Potyviridae) to abduct their host defence line, suggesting to review in detail the existing knowledge of these PTMs and highlight the unexplored modifications that might have played their part in establishing successful infection. The current review provides an understanding of how PTMs execute viral replication and infection dynamics during plant-potyvirid interactions. We highlighted that PTMs linked to CP, NIa-pro, NIb, and VPg are important to specify their host, virulence, overcoming host innate immunity, and most importantly disarming the host of RNA silencing tool of nailing any intruder. The limitations and potential improvements in studying undermined PTMs, including acetylation, glycosylation, methylation, and neddylation, as well as challenges and future perspectives of this inevitable process are mechanistically deciphered in the course of plant-virus interactions. This communication opens new avenues for investigating the fundamental mechanisms of virus infection and the development of new antiviral strategies for sustainable disease managements.

Lemon zinc finger protein ClSUP induces accumulation of reactive oxygen species and inhibits citrus yellow vein-clearing virus infection via interactions with ClDOF3.4

Citrus yellow vein-clearing virus (Potexvirus citriflavivenae; CYVCV) is an increasing threat to citrus cultivation. Notably, the role of zinc finger proteins (ZFPs) in mediating viral resistance in citrus plants is unclear. In this study, we demonstrated that ZFPs ClSUP and ClDOF3.4 enhanced citrus defense responses against CYVCV in Eureka lemon (Citrus limon 'Eureka'). ClSUP interacted with the coat protein (CP) of CYVCV to reduce CP accumulation and inhibited its silencing suppressor function. Overexpression of CISUP triggered reactive oxygen species (ROS) and salicylic acid (SA) pathways, and enhanced resistance to CYVCV infection. In contrast, ClSUP silencing resulted in increased CP accumulation and down-regulated ROS and SA-related genes. ClDOF3.4 interacted with ClSUP to facilitate its interactions with CP. Furthermore, ClDOF3.4 synergistically regulated the accumulation of ROS and SA with ClSUP and accelerated down-regulation of CP accumulation. Transgenic plants co-expressing ClSUP and ClDOF3.4 significantly decreased the CYVCV. These findings provide a new reference for understanding the interaction mechanism between the host and CYVCV.

The miR172/TOE3 module regulates resistance to tobacco mosaic virus in tobacco

The outcome of certain plant-virus interaction is symptom recovery, which is accompanied with the emergence of asymptomatic tissues in which the virus accumulation decreased dramatically. This phenomenon shows the potential to reveal critical molecular factors for controlling viral disease. MicroRNAs act as master regulators in plant growth, development, and immunity. However, the mechanism by which miRNA participates in regulating symptom recovery remains largely unknown. Here, we reported that miR172 was scavenged in the recovered tissue of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV)-infected Nicotiana tabacum plants. Overexpression of miR172 promoted TMV infection, whereas silencing of miR172 inhibited TMV infection. Then, TARGET OF EAT3 (TOE3), an APETALA2 transcription factor, was identified as a downstream target of miR172. Overexpression of NtTOE3 significantly improved plant resistance to TMV infection, while knockout of NtTOE3 facilitated virus infection. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis indicated that TOE3 promoted the expression of defense-related genes, such as KL1 and MLP43. Overexpression of these genes conferred resistance of plant against TMV infection. Importantly, results of dual-luciferase assay, chromatin immunoprecipitation-quantitative PCR, and electrophoretic mobility shift assay proved that TOE3 activated the transcription of KL1 and MLP43 by binding their promoters. Moreover, overexpression of rTOE3 (the miR172-resistant form of TOE3) significantly reduced TMV accumulation compared to the overexpression of TOE3 (the normal form of TOE3) in miR172 overexpressing Nicotiana benthamiana plants. Taken together, our study reveals the pivotal role of miR172/TOE3 module in regulating plant immunity and in the establishment of recovery in virus-infected tobacco plants, elucidating a regulatory mechanism integrating plant growth, development, and immune response.

Unraveling the regulatory network of miRNA expression in Potato Y virus-infected of Nicotiana benthamiana using integrated small RNA and transcriptome sequencing

Potato virus Y (PVY) disease is a global problem that causes significant damage to crop quality and yield. As traditional chemical control methods are ineffective against PVY, it is crucial to explore new control strategies. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a crucial role in plant and animal defense responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. These endogenous miRNAs act as a link between antiviral gene pathways and host immunity. Several miRNAs target plant immune genes and are involved in the virus infection process. In this study, we conducted small RNA sequencing and transcriptome sequencing on healthy and PVY-infected N. benthamiana tissues (roots, stems, and leaves). Through bioinformatics analysis, we predicted potential targets of differentially expressed miRNAs using the N. benthamiana reference genome and the PVY genome. We then compared the identified differentially expressed mRNAs with the predicted target genes to uncover the complex relationships between miRNAs and their targets. This study successfully constructed a miRNA-mRNA network through the joint analysis of Small RNA sequencing and transcriptome sequencing, which unveiled potential miRNA targets and identified potential binding sites of miRNAs on the PVY genome. This miRNA-mRNA regulatory network suggests the involvement of miRNAs in the virus infection process.