Open AccessOverexpression of an insect virus encoded silencing suppressor does not enhance plants’ susceptibility to its natural virus
Author(s) -
Kumari Veena Sinha,
A. Abdul Kader Jailani,
Bikash Mandal,
Sunil Kumar Mukherjee,
Neeti Sanan-Mishra
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
virusdisease
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.375
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 2347-3517
pISSN - 2347-3584
DOI - 10.1007/s13337-020-00644-5
Subject(s) - biology , gene silencing , rna interference , rna silencing , virus , virology , cucumber mosaic virus , rna , cucumovirus , genetically modified crops , tobacco mosaic virus , small interfering rna , transgene , plant virus , genetics , gene
RNA silencing plays a key role in shielding plant and animal hosts against viral invasion and infection. Viruses encode RNA silencing suppressors (RSS) to block small RNA guided silencing of viral transcripts. The B2 protein encoded by Flock House virus (FHV) is a well-characterized RSS that facilitates infection in insects. It has been shown to act as a functional RSS in plants. FHVB2 over-expressing tobacco plants were used to study the effect of RSS on plant susceptibility to Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) , its natural pathogen. The major symptoms observed in TMV-infected transgenic plants were greenish mosaic, puckering and distortion of leaves, but the infected transgenic leaves were able to resist chlorophyll loss. The infected leaves of transgenic plants showed no significant difference in accumulation of virus when compared with that of the wild type plants. FHVB2 plants showed higher levels of H 2 O 2 and the ROS scavenging enzymes, APX and SOD. This suggests that interference of FHVB2 with RNA silencing machinery may activate alternative defense pathways in the plants so that they are not overly sensitive to TMV infection.