Plant Virology
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, conducted a study published in Current Biology that discusses the exciting world of plant-virus interactions. This is a summary of the study.
by Jorge Luis Alonso with ChatGPT-4
The term “virus” was first coined in 1898 to describe tobacco mosaic virus, a plant pathogen that causes a yellow mosaic pattern on leaves. Since then, the study of plant viruses has led to important discoveries in both virology and plant biology.
Initially, research focused primarily on viruses that cause severe disease in plants used for human food or recreation. However, current studies have broadened the scope, revealing a spectrum of interactions ranging from pathogenic to symbiotic.
Plant viruses are not isolated entities. In fact, they are part of a larger community that includes other microbes and pests. Biological vectors such as arthropods, nematodes, fungi, and protists play a critical role in facilitating the transmission of these viruses.
Interestingly, viruses have the ability to manipulate plant chemistry to attract these vectors. Once inside a new host, they rely on specific proteins for transport.
Upon infection, plants trigger a series of antiviral defenses, including the activation of resistance genes. This primer explores these and other fascinating aspects of plant-virus interactions.
Plant viruses are incredibly diverse and fall into two distinct areas: Riboviria, which includes RNA and reverse-transcribing viruses, and Monodnaviria, which consists of single-stranded DNA viruses. Interestingly, the plant virome is dominated by positive-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses.
These plant viruses have a protein capsid that encloses the viral genome, and some even have a lipid bilayer derived from the host. They can be icosahedral or rod-shaped, with sizes ranging from as small as 12 nm to as large as 900 nm. RNA genomes can be single- or double-stranded and are typically linear. DNA viruses, on the other hand, are single-stranded and typically circular. It’s worth noting that plant virus genomes are relatively small, encoding between 1 and 15 proteins.
In terms of spread, plant viruses are spread by local and systemic movement. Local movement occurs between adjacent cells, while systemic movement occurs through the plant vasculature. Viruses move either as ribonucleoprotein complexes or as whole virions.
To defend against these viruses, plants use a mechanism known as RNA silencing, which targets and degrades RNAs complementary to the viral RNA. In addition, plants have proteins encoded by resistance (R) genes that recognize viral proteins and mount a strong immune response. However, viruses can counteract these defenses by interfering with the RNA silencing pathway or by mutating to avoid recognition by R gene-encoded proteins.
Transmission of plant viruses typically occurs via vectors such as insects, nematodes, protists, and fungi, with insects being the most common vector. The classification of virus transmission by vectors is determined by the location of the virus in the vector and the duration of the virus-vector association. Non-circulating viruses bind transiently to the mouthparts of the vector, whereas circulating viruses are ingested and pass through the body of the vector before being transmitted to a new host.
Source: Xavier, C. A., & Whitfield, A. E. (2023). Plant virology. Current Biology, 33(11), R478-R484. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.03.038
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