RESUMEN
Citrus leprosis in Colombia was previously shown to be caused by cytoplasmic Citrus leprosis virus (CiLV-C). In 2011, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-based diagnostic methods failed to identify CiLV-C from citrus samples with symptoms similar to citrus leprosis; however, virions similar to CiLV-C were observed in the cytoplasm of the symptomatic leaves by transmission electron microscopy. Furthermore, the causal organism was transmitted by the false spider mite, Brevipalpus phoenicis, to healthy citrus seedlings. A library of small RNAs was constructed from symptomatic leaves and used as the template for Illumina high-throughput parallel sequencing. The complete genome sequence and structure of a new bipartite RNA virus was determined. RNA1 (8,717 nucleotides [nt]) contained two open reading frames (ORFs). ORF1 encoded the replication module, consisting of five domains: namely, methyltransferase (MTR), cysteine protease-like, FtsJ-MTR, helicase (Hel), and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp); whereas ORF2 encoded the putative coat protein. RNA2 (4,989 nt) contained five ORFs that encode the movement protein (MP) and four hypothetical proteins (p7, p15, p24, and p61). The structure of this virus genome resembled that of CiLV-C except that it contained a long 3' untranslated terminal region and an extra ORF (p7) in RNA2. Both the RNA1 and RNA2 of the new virus had only 58 and 50% nucleotide identities, respectively, with known CiLV-C sequences and, thus, it appears to be a novel virus infecting citrus. Phylogenetic analyses of the MTR, Hel, RdRp, and MP domains also indicated that the new virus was closely related to CiLV-C. We suggest that the virus be called Citrus leprosis virus cytoplasmic type 2 (CiLV-C2) and it should be unambiguously classified as a definitive member of the genus Cilevirus. A pair of CiLV-C2 genome-specific RT-PCR primers was designed and validated to detect its presence in citrus leprosis samples collected from the Casanare and Meta states in Colombia.
Asunto(s)
Vectores Arácnidos/virología , Citrus/virología , Ácaros/virología , Enfermedades de las Plantas/virología , Virus ARN/aislamiento & purificación , Secuencia de Aminoácidos , Animales , Citrus/ultraestructura , Colombia , Frutas , Biblioteca de Genes , Genoma Viral/genética , Secuenciación de Nucleótidos de Alto Rendimiento , Microscopía Electrónica de Transmisión , Datos de Secuencia Molecular , Filogenia , Hojas de la Planta/virología , Virus ARN/clasificación , Virus ARN/genética , ARN Viral/genética , ARN Polimerasa Dependiente del ARN/genética , Plantones/ultraestructura , Plantones/virología , Alineación de Secuencia , Análisis de Secuencia de ADNRESUMEN
Infiltration of Agrobacterium tumefaciens into intact plant leaves of N. benthamiana was used to test the efficiency of two virus-based silencing constructs conferring resistance to the closely related begomoviruses. The constructs contained the most conserved sequences of the coat protein (CP) gene and replication-associated protein (Rep) gene of Tomato yellow leaf curl Sardinia virus (Sicily strain) (TYLCSV-[Sic]). Both constructs formed a hairpin structure that enhanced the post-transcriptional gene-silencing mechanism. When agro-infiltrated plants were challenged separately with infectious viruses TYLCSV-[Sic] and Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), the plants showed resistance to TYLCSV-[Sic], but not to the related TYLCV.
Asunto(s)
Agricultura/métodos , Begomovirus/patogenicidad , Nicotiana/virología , Enfermedades de las Plantas/virología , Interferencia de ARN , Solanum lycopersicum/virología , Proteínas Virales/genética , Agrobacterium tumefaciens/genética , Begomovirus/genética , Proteínas de la Cápside/genética , Proteínas de la Cápside/metabolismo , Hojas de la Planta/virología , Plantas Modificadas Genéticamente/genética , Plantas Modificadas Genéticamente/virología , Nicotiana/genética , Proteínas Virales/metabolismoRESUMEN
Tomato yellow leaf curl disease (TYLCD) is caused by a group of geminiviruses that belong to the Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) complex and are transmitted by the whitefly (Bemisia tabaci Genn.). The disease causes great yield losses in many countries throughout the Mediterranean region and the Middle East. In this study, the efficacy of post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) to control the disease caused by TYLCV complex was investigated. Non-coding conserved regions from the genome of TYLCV, Tomato yellow leaf curl virus-mild, tomato yellow leaf curl Sardinia virus, tomato yellow leaf curl Malaga virus, and tomato yellow leaf curl Sardinia virus-Spain [2] were selected and used to design a construct that can trigger broad resistance against different viruses that cause tomato yellow leaf curl disease. The silencing construct was cloned into an Agrobacterium-binary vector in sense and antisense orientation and used in transient assay to infiltrate tomato and Nicotiana benthamiana plants. A high level of resistance was obtained when plants were agro-infiltrated with an infectious clone of the Egyptian isolate of TYLCV (TYLCV-[EG]) or challenge inoculated with TYLCV, TYLCV-Mld, and TYLCSV-ES[2] using whitefly-mediated transmission 16-20 days post infiltration with the silencing construct. Results of the polymerase chain reaction showed that the resistance was effective against all three viruses. Furthermore, dot blot hybridization and PCR failed to detect viral DNA in symptomless, silenced plants. A positive correlation between resistance and the accumulation of TYLCV-specific siRNAs was observed in silenced plants. Together, these data provide compelling evidence that PTGS can be used to engineer geminivirus-resistant plants.