Suppressor of RNA silencing encoded by Tomato yellow leaf curl virus-Israel

Avi Zrachya, Efrat Glick, Yael Levy, Tzahi Arazi, Vitaly Citovsky, Yedidya Gafni

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

147 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Israeli isolate of Tomato yellow leaf curl geminivirus (TYLCV-Is) is a major tomato pathogen, causing extensive crop losses both in the New and Old World. Surprisingly, however, little is known about the molecular mechanisms of TYLCV-Is interactions with tomato cells. Here, we have identified a TYLCV-Is protein, V2, which acts as a suppressor of RNA silencing and which is unrelated to presently known viral suppressors. Specifically, V2, but not other proteins of TYLCV-Is, inhibited RNA silencing of a reporter transgene, GFP. This inhibition elevated the cellular levels of the GFP transcript and the GFP protein, but it had no apparent effect on the accumulation of GFP-specific short interfering RNAs (siRNAs), suggesting that TYLCV-Is V2 targets a step in the RNA silencing pathway which is subsequent to the Dicer-mediated cleavage of dsRNA. Visualization of the sub-cellular localization of TYLCV-Is V2 in plant protoplasts and tissues showed that this protein is associated with cytoplasmic strands and inclusion bodies in the cortical regions of the cell.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)159-165
Number of pages7
JournalVirology
Volume358
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 5 Feb 2007
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank Dr. Sondra Lazarowitz for stimulating discussions, Dr. Yiguo Hong for the kind gift of the TYLCV-China C2 cDNA and Ana Mett and Eddy Blasov for excellent technical assistance. This work was supported by a grant from the U.S.–Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD) to YG and VC. In addition, the YG laboratory is supported by a grant from the Israel Science Foundation (ISF), and the VC laboratory is supported by grants from National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and U.S.–Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF).

Funding

We thank Dr. Sondra Lazarowitz for stimulating discussions, Dr. Yiguo Hong for the kind gift of the TYLCV-China C2 cDNA and Ana Mett and Eddy Blasov for excellent technical assistance. This work was supported by a grant from the U.S.–Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD) to YG and VC. In addition, the YG laboratory is supported by a grant from the Israel Science Foundation (ISF), and the VC laboratory is supported by grants from National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and U.S.–Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF).

FundersFunder number
National Science Foundation
National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Agriculture
United States - Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund
BARD
United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation
Israel Science Foundation

    Keywords

    • RNA silencing suppressor
    • Sub-cellular localization
    • Tomato yellow leaf curl virus

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Suppressor of RNA silencing encoded by Tomato yellow leaf curl virus-Israel'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this