The SARS-CoV-2 protein ORF3c is a mitochondrial modulator of innate immunity.

The SARS-CoV-2 genome encodes a multitude of accessory proteins. Using comparative genomic approaches, an additional accessory protein, ORF3c, has been predicted to be encoded within the ORF3a sgmRNA. Expression of ORF3c during infection has been confirmed independently by ribosome profiling. Despite ORF3c also being present in the 2002-2003 SARS-CoV, its function has remained unexplored. Here we show that ORF3c localizes to mitochondria, where it inhibits innate immunity by restricting IFN-ß production, but not NF-κB activation or JAK-STAT signaling downstream of type I IFN stimulation. We find that ORF3c is inhibitory after stimulation with cytoplasmic RNA helicases RIG-I or MDA5 or adaptor protein MAVS, but not after TRIF, TBK1 or phospho-IRF3 stimulation. ORF3c co-immunoprecipitates with the antiviral proteins MAVS and PGAM5 and induces MAVS cleavage by caspase-3. Together, these data provide insight into an uncharacterized mechanism of innate immune evasion by this important human pathogen.

Functional analogs of mammalian 4E-BPs reveal a role for TOR in global plant translation.

Mammalian/mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) regulates global protein synthesis through inactivation of eIF4E-binding proteins (m4E-BPs) in response to nutrient and energy availability. Until now, 4E-BPs have been considered as metazoan inventions, and how target of rapamycin (TOR) controls cap-dependent translation initiation in plants remains obscure. Here, we present short unstructured 4E-BP-like Arabidopsis proteins (4EBP1/4EBP2) that are non-homologous to m4E-BPs except for the eIF4E-binding motif and TOR phosphorylation sites. Unphosphorylated 4EBPs exhibit strong affinity toward eIF4Es and can inhibit formation of the cap-binding complex. Upon TOR activation, 4EBPs are phosphorylated, probably when bound directly to TOR, and likely relocated to ribosomes. 4EBPs can suppress a distinct set of mRNAs; 4EBP2 predominantly inhibits translation of core cell-cycle regulators CycB1;1 and CycD1;1, whereas 4EBP1 interferes with chlorophyll biosynthesis. Accordingly, 4EBP2 overexpression halts early seedling development, which is overcome by induction of Glc/Suc-TOR signaling. Thus, TOR regulates cap-dependent translation initiation by inactivating atypical 4EBPs in plants.

Effect of RNA silencing suppression activity of chrysanthemum virus B p12 protein on small RNA species.

Chrysanthemum virus B encodes a multifunctional p12 protein that acts as a transcriptional activator in the nucleus and as a suppressor of RNA silencing in the cytoplasm. Here, we investigated the impact of p12 on accumulation of major classes of small RNAs (sRNAs). The results show dramatic changes in the sRNA profiles characterised by an overall reduction in sRNA accumulation, changes in the pattern of size distribution of canonical siRNAs and in the ratio between sense and antisense strands, lower abundance of siRNAs with a U residue at the 5'-terminus, and changes in the expression of certain miRNAs, most of which were downregulated.

Meiotic crossover reduction by virus-induced gene silencing enables the efficient generation of chromosome substitution lines and reverse breeding in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Plant breeding applications exploiting meiotic mutant phenotypes (like the increase or decrease of crossover (CO) recombination) have been proposed over the last years. As recessive meiotic mutations in breeding lines may affect fertility or have other pleiotropic effects, transient silencing techniques may be preferred. Reverse breeding is a breeding technique that would benefit from the transient downregulation of CO formation. The technique is essentially the opposite of plant hybridization: a method to extract parental lines from a hybrid. The method can also be used to efficiently generate chromosome substitution lines (CSLs). For successful reverse breeding, the two homologous chromosome sets of a heterozygous plant must be divided over two haploid complements, which can be achieved by the suppression of meiotic CO recombination and the subsequent production of doubled haploid plants. Here we show the feasibility of transiently reducing CO formation using virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) by targeting the meiotic gene MSH5 in a wild-type heterozygote of Arabidopsis thaliana. The application of VIGS (rather than using lengthy stable transformation) generates transgene-free offspring with the desired genetic composition: we obtained parental lines from a wild-type heterozygous F1 in two generations. In addition, we obtained 20 (of the 32 possible) CSLs in one experiment. Our results demonstrate that meiosis can be modulated at will in A. thaliana to generate CSLs and parental lines rapidly for hybrid breeding. Furthermore, we illustrate how the modification of meiosis using VIGS can open routes to develop efficient plant breeding strategies.

A case for a negative-strand coding sequence in a group of positive-sense RNA viruses.

Positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses form the largest and most diverse group of eukaryote-infecting viruses. Their genomes comprise one or more segments of coding-sense RNA that function directly as messenger RNAs upon release into the cytoplasm of infected cells. Positive-sense RNA viruses are generally accepted to encode proteins solely on the positive strand. However, we previously identified a surprisingly long (∼1,000-codon) open reading frame (ORF) on the negative strand of some members of the family Narnaviridae which, together with RNA bacteriophages of the family Leviviridae, form a sister group to all other positive-sense RNA viruses. Here, we completed the genomes of three mosquito-associated narnaviruses, all of which have the long reverse-frame ORF. We systematically identified narnaviral sequences in public data sets from a wide range of sources, including arthropod, fungal, and plant transcriptomic data sets. Long reverse-frame ORFs are widespread in one clade of narnaviruses, where they frequently occupy >95 per cent of the genome. The reverse-frame ORFs correspond to a specific avoidance of CUA, UUA, and UCA codons (i.e. stop codon reverse complements) in the forward-frame RNA-dependent RNA polymerase ORF. However, absence of these codons cannot be explained by other factors such as inability to decode these codons or GC3 bias. Together with other analyses, we provide the strongest evidence yet of coding capacity on the negative strand of a positive-sense RNA virus. As these ORFs comprise some of the longest known overlapping genes, their study may be of broad relevance to understanding overlapping gene evolution and de novo origin of genes.

Cauliflower mosaic virus transactivator protein (TAV) can suppress nonsense-mediated decay by targeting VARICOSE, a scaffold protein of the decapping complex.

During pathogenesis, viruses hijack the host cellular machinery to access molecules and sub-cellular structures needed for infection. We have evidence that the multifunctional viral translation transactivator/viroplasmin (TAV) protein from Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) can function as a suppressor of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). TAV interacts specifically with a scaffold protein of the decapping complex VARICOSE (VCS) in the yeast two-hybrid system, and co-localizes with components of the decapping complex in planta. Notably, plants transgenic for TAV accumulate endogenous NMD-elicited mRNAs, while decay of AU-rich instability element (ARE)-signal containing mRNAs are not affected. Using an agroinfiltration-based transient assay we confirmed that TAV specifically stabilizes mRNA containing a premature termination codon (PTC) in a VCS-dependent manner. We have identified a TAV motif consisting of 12 of the 520 amino acids in the full-length sequence that is critical for both VCS binding and the NMD suppression effect. Our data suggest that TAV can intercept NMD by targeting the decapping machinery through the scaffold protein VARICOSE, indicating that 5'-3' mRNA decapping is a late step in NMD-related mRNA degradation in plants.

Discovery of three RNA viruses using ant transcriptomic datasets.

Three novel RNA viruses, named Formica fusca virus 1 (GenBank accession no. MH477287), Lasius neglectus virus 2 (MH477288) and Myrmica scabrinodis virus 2 (MH477289), were discovered in ants collected in Cambridge, UK. The proposed virus names were given based on the hosts in which they were identified. The genome sequences were obtained using de novo transcriptome assembly of high-throughput RNA sequencing reads and confirmed by Sanger sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Formica fusca virus 1 grouped within the family Nyamiviridae, Lasius neglectus virus 2 grouped within the family Rhabdoviridae and Myrmica scabrinodis virus 2 belongs to the family Dicistroviridae. All three viruses are highly divergent from previously sequenced viruses.

Polycipiviridae: a proposed new family of polycistronic picorna-like RNA viruses.

Solenopsis invicta virus 2 is a single-stranded positive-sense picorna-like RNA virus with an unusual genome structure. The monopartite genome of approximately 11 kb contains four open reading frames in its 5' third, three of which encode proteins with homology to picornavirus-like jelly-roll fold capsid proteins. These are followed by an intergenic region, and then a single long open reading frame that covers the 3' two-thirds of the genome. The polypeptide translation of this 3' open reading frame contains motifs characteristic of picornavirus-like helicase, protease and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase domains. An inspection of public transcriptome shotgun assembly sequences revealed five related apparently nearly complete virus genomes isolated from ant species and one from a dipteran insect. By high-throughput sequencing and in silico assembly of RNA isolated from Solenopsis invicta and four other ant species, followed by targeted Sanger sequencing, we obtained nearly complete genomes for four further viruses in the group. Four further sequences were obtained from a recent large-scale invertebrate virus study. The 15 sequences are highly divergent (pairwise amino acid identities of as low as 17 % in the non-structural polyprotein), but possess the same overall polycistronic genome structure, which is distinct from all other characterized picorna-like viruses. Consequently, we propose the formation of a new virus family, Polycipiviridae, to classify this clade of arthropod-infecting polycistronic picorna-like viruses. We further propose that this family be divided into three genera: Chipolycivirus (2 species), Hupolycivirus (2 species) and Sopolycivirus (11 species), with members of the latter infecting ants in at least 3 different subfamilies.

Molecular and pathobiological characterization of 61 Potato mop-top virus full-length cDNAs reveals great variability of the virus in the centre of potato domestication, novel genotypes and evidence for recombination.

The evolutionary divergence of Potato mop-top virus (PMTV), a tri-partite, single-stranded RNA virus, is exceptionally low, based on the analysis of sequences obtained from isolates from Europe, Asia and North America. In general, RNA viruses exist as dynamic populations of closely related and recombinant genomes that are subjected to continuous genetic variation. The reason behind the low genetic variation of PMTV remains unclear. The question remains as to whether the low variability is a shared property of all PMTV isolates or is a result of the limited number of isolates characterized so far. We hypothesized that higher divergence of the virus might exist in the Andean regions of South America, the centre of potato domestication. Here, we report high variability of PMTV isolates collected from 12 fields in three locations in the Andean region of Peru. To evaluate PMTV genetic variation in Peru, we generated full-length cDNA clones, which allowed reliable comparative molecular and pathobiological characterization of individual isolates. We found significant divergence of the CP-RT and 8K sequences. The 8K cistron, which encodes a viral suppressor of RNA silencing, was found to be under diversifying selection. Phylogenetic analysis determined that, based on the CP-RT sequence, all PMTV isolates could be categorized into three separate lineages (clades). Moreover, we found evidence for recombination between two clades. Using infectious cDNA clones of the representatives of these two clades, as well as reassortants for the RNA-CP genomic component, we determined the pathobiological differences between the lineages, which we coined as S (for severe) and M (for mild) types. Interestingly, all isolates characterized previously (from Europe, Asia and North America) fall into the S-type clade, whereas most of the Peruvian isolates belong to the M-type. Taken together, our results support the notion of the single introduction of PMTV from the centre of potato origin to Europe, and subsequent spread of the S-type into Asia and USA. This is also supported by the suggested novel classification of isolates based on genetic constellations.

Importin-α-mediated nucleolar localization of potato mop-top virus TRIPLE GENE BLOCK1 (TGB1) protein facilitates virus systemic movement, whereas TGB1 self-interaction is required for cell-to-cell movement in Nicotiana benthamiana.

Recently, it has become evident that nucleolar passage of movement proteins occurs commonly in a number of plant RNA viruses that replicate in the cytoplasm. Systemic movement of Potato mop-top virus (PMTV) involves two viral transport forms represented by a complex of viral RNA and TRIPLE GENE BLOCK1 (TGB1) movement protein and by polar virions that contain the minor coat protein and TGB1 attached to one extremity. The integrity of polar virions ensures the efficient movement of RNA-CP, which encodes the virus coat protein. Here, we report the involvement of nuclear transport receptors belonging to the importin-α family in nucleolar accumulation of the PMTV TGB1 protein and, subsequently, in the systemic movement of the virus. Virus-induced gene silencing of two importin-α paralogs in Nicotiana benthamiana resulted in significant reduction of TGB1 accumulation in the nucleus, decreasing the accumulation of the virus progeny in upper leaves and the loss of systemic movement of RNA-CP. PMTV TGB1 interacted with importin-α in N. benthamiana, which was detected by bimolecular fluorescence complementation in the nucleoplasm and nucleolus. The interaction was mediated by two nucleolar localization signals identified by bioinformatics and mutagenesis in the TGB1 amino-terminal domain. Our results showed that while TGB1 self-interaction is needed for cell-to-cell movement, importin-α-mediated nucleolar targeting of TGB1 is an essential step in establishing the efficient systemic infection of the entire plant. These results enabled the identification of two separate domains in TGB1: an internal domain required for TGB1 self-interaction and cell-to-cell movement and the amino-terminal domain required for importin-α interaction in plants, nucleolar targeting, and long-distance movement.

A viral transcription factor exhibits antiviral RNA silencing suppression activity independent of its nuclear localization.

Viral suppressors of RNA silencing (VSRs) are critical for the success of virus infection and efficient accumulation of virus progeny. The chrysanthemum virus B p12 protein acts as a transcription factor to regulate cell size and proliferation favourable for virus infection. Here, we showed that the p12 protein suppressed RNA silencing and was able to complement a VSR-deficient unrelated virus. Moreover, p12 counter-silencing activity could be uncoupled from its function as a transcription factor in the nucleus. The altered p12 protein, which lacked a nuclear localization signal and was not imported into the nucleus, was able to suppress RNA silencing as efficiently as the native protein. The data revealed new aspects of p12 functioning and identified a novel role for this viral zinc-finger transcription factor. The results provided a general insight into one of the activities of the p12 protein, which appeared to possess more than one function.

Making sense of nuclear localization: a zinc-finger protein encoded by a cytoplasmically replicating plant RNA virus acts a transcription factor: a novel function for a member of large family of viral proteins.

Recent studies have uncovered numerous nucleus-localized proteins encoded by plant RNA viruses. Whereas for some of these viruses nuclear (or, more specifically, nucleolar) passage of the proteins is needed for the virus movement within the plant or suppression of host defense, the nuclear function of these proteins remains largely unknown. Recently, the situation has been clarified for one group of plant RNA viruses, the Carlaviruses. Being positive-stranded RNA viruses, carlaviruses multiply exclusively in the cytoplasm. Chrysanthemum virus B (CVB, a carlavirus) encodes a zinc-finger protein p12 targeted to the nucleus in a nuclear localization signal-dependent manner. In a recent work, we demonstrated that p12 directly interacts with chromatin and plant promoters, thus, acts as a eukaryotic transcription factor (TF) and activates expression of a host TF involved in regulation of cell size and proliferation to favor virus infection. Therefore our studies identified a novel nuclear stage of in CVB infection involving modulation of host gene expression and plant development. Whereas it is well established that any RNA virus actively replicating in the cell causes changes in the transcriptome, our study expanded this view by showing that some positive-stranded RNA viruses can directly manipulate host transcription by encoding eukaryotic TFs.

An RNA virus-encoded zinc-finger protein acts as a plant transcription factor and induces a regulator of cell size and proliferation in two tobacco species.

Plant viruses cause a variety of diseases in susceptible hosts. The disease symptoms often include leaf malformations and other developmental abnormalities, suggesting that viruses can affect plant development. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying virus interference with plant morphogenesis. Here, we show that a C-4 type zinc-finger (ZF) protein, p12, encoded by a carlavirus (chrysanthemum virus B) can induce cell proliferation, which results in hyperplasia and severe leaf malformation. We demonstrate that the p12 protein activates expression of a regulator of cell size and proliferation, designated upp-L (upregulated by p12), which encodes a transcription factor of the basic/helix-loop-helix family sufficient to cause hyperplasia. The induction of upp-L requires translocation of the p12 protein into the nucleus and ZF-dependent specific interaction with the conserved regulatory region in the upp-L promoter. Our results establish the role of the p12 protein in modulation of host cell morphogenesis. It is likely that other members of the conserved C-4 type ZF family of viral proteins instigate reprogramming of plant development by mimicking eukaryotic transcriptional activators.

Deciphering the mechanism of defective interfering RNA (DI RNA) biogenesis reveals that a viral protein and the DI RNA act antagonistically in virus infection.

Potato mop-top virus (PMTV) produces a defective RNA (D RNA) encompassing the 5'-terminal 479 nucleotides (nt) and 3'-terminal 372 nt of RNA-TGB (where TGB is triple gene block). The mechanism that controls D RNA biogenesis and the role of D RNA in virus accumulation was investigated by introducing deletions, insertions, and point mutations into the sequences of the open reading frames (ORFs) of TGB1 and the 8-kilodalton (8K) protein that were identified as required for efficient production of the D RNA. Transient expression of RNA-TGB in the absence of RNA-Rep (which encodes the replicase) did not result in accumulation of D RNA, indicating that its production is dependent on PMTV replication. The D RNA could be eliminated by disrupting a predicted minus-strand stem-loop structure comprising complementary sequences of the 5' TGB1 ORF and the 3' 8K ORF, suggesting intramolecular template switching during positive-strand synthesis as a mechanism for the D RNA biogenesis. Virus accumulation was reduced when the 8K ORF was disrupted but D RNA was produced. Conversely, the virus accumulated at higher titers when the 8K ORF was intact and D RNA production was blocked. These data demonstrate that the D RNA interferes with virus infection and therefore should be referred to as a defective interfering RNA (DI RNA). The 8K protein was shown to be a weak silencing suppressor. This study provides an example of the interplay between a pathogen and its molecular parasite where virus accumulation was differentially regulated by the 8K protein and DI RNA, indicating that they play antagonistic roles and suggesting a mechanism by which the virus can attenuate replication, decreasing viral load and thereby enhancing its efficiency as a parasite.

Dynamic localization of two tobamovirus ORF6 proteins involves distinct organellar compartments.

ORF6 is a small gene that overlaps the movement and coat protein genes of subgroup 1a tobamoviruses. The ORF6 protein of tomato mosaic virus (ToMV) strain L (L-ORF6), interacts in vitro with eukaryotic elongation factor 1α, and mutation of the ORF6 gene of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) strain U1 (U1-ORF6) reduces the pathogenicity in vivo of TMV, whereas expression of this gene from two other viruses, tobacco rattle virus (TRV) and potato virus X (PVX), increases their pathogenicity. In this work, the in vivo properties of the L-ORF6 and U1-ORF6 proteins were compared to identify sequences that direct the proteins to different subcellular locations and also influence virus pathogenicity. Site-specific mutations in the ORF6 protein were made, hybrid ORF6 proteins were created in which the N-terminal and C-terminal parts were derived from the two proteins, and different subregions of the protein were examined, using expression either from a recombinant TRV vector or as a yellow fluorescent protein fusion from a binary plasmid in Agrobacterium tumefaciens. L-ORF6 caused mild necrotic symptoms in Nicotiana benthamiana when expressed from TRV, whereas U1-ORF6 caused severe symptoms including death of the plant apex. The difference in symptoms was associated with the C-terminal region of L-ORF6, which directed the protein to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), whereas U1-ORF6 was directed initially to the nucleolus and later to the mitochondria. Positively charged residues at the N terminus allowed nucleolar entry of both U1-ORF6 and L-ORF6, but hydrophobic residues at the C terminus of L-ORF6 directed this protein to the ER.

Unusual features of pomoviral RNA movement.

Potato mop-top pomovirus (PMTV) is one of a few viruses that can move systemically in plants in the absence of the capsid protein (CP). Pomoviruses encode the triple gene block genetic module of movement proteins (TGB 1, 2, and 3) and recent research suggests that PMTV RNA is transported either as ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes containing TGB1 or encapsidated in virions containing TGB1. Furthermore, there are different requirements for local or systemic (long-distance) movement. Research suggests that nucleolar passage of TGB1 may be important for the long-distance movement of both RNP and virions. Moreover, and uniquely, the long-distance movement of the CP-encoding RNA requires expression of both major and minor CP subunits and is inhibited when only the major CP sub unit is expressed. This paper reviews pomovirus research and presents a current model for RNA movement.

The N-terminal domain of PMTV TGB1 movement protein is required for nucleolar localization, microtubule association, and long-distance movement.

The triple-gene-block (TGB)1 protein of Potato mop-top virus (PMTV) was fused to fluorescent proteins and expressed in epidermal cells of Nicotiana benthamiana under the control of the 35S promoter. TGB1 fluorescence was observed in the cytoplasm, nucleus, and nucleolus and occasionally associated with microtubules. When expressed from a modified virus (PMTV.YFP-TGB1) which formed local lesions but was not competent for systemic movement, yellow fluorescent protein (YFP)-TGB1 labeled plasmodesmata in cells at the leading edge of the lesion and plasmodesmata, microtubules, nuclei, and nucleoli in cells immediately behind the leading edge. Deletion of 84 amino acids from the N-terminus of unlabeled TGB1 within the PMTV genome abolished movement of viral RNA to noninoculated leaves. When the same deletion was introduced into PMTV.YFP-TGB1, labeling of microtubules and nucleoli was abolished. The N-terminal 84 amino acids of TGB1 were fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP) and expressed in epidermal cells where GFP localized strongly to the nucleolus (not seen with unfused GFP), indicating that these amino acids contain a nucleolar localization signal; the fusion protein did not label microtubules. This is the first report of nucleolar and microtubule association of a TGB movement protein. The results suggest that PMTV TGB1 requires interaction with nuclear components and, possibly, microtubules for long-distance movement of viral RNA.

Unusual long-distance movement strategies of Potato mop-top virus RNAs in Nicotiana benthamiana.

The Potato mop-top virus (PMTV) genome encodes replicase, movement, and capsid proteins on three different RNA species that are encapsidated within tubular rod-shaped particles. Previously, we showed that the protein produced on translational readthrough (RT) of the coat protein (CP) gene, CP-RT, is associated with one extremity of the virus particles, and that the two RNAs encoding replicase and movement proteins can move long distance in the absence of the third RNA (RNA-CP) that encodes the capsid proteins, CP and CP-RT. Here, we examined the roles of the CP and CP-RT proteins on RNA movement using infectious clones carrying mutations in the CP and CP-RT coding domains. The results showed that, in infections established with mutant RNA-CP expressing CP together with truncated CP-RT, systemic movement of the mutant RNA-CP was inhibited but not the movement of the other two RNAs. Furthermore, RNA-CP long-distance movement was inhibited in a mutant clone expressing only CP in the absence of the CP-RT polypeptide. CP-RT was not necessary for particle assembly because virions were observed in leaf extracts infected with the CP-RT deletion mutants. RNA-CP moved long distance when protein expression was suppressed completely or when CP expression was suppressed so that only CP-RT or truncated CP-RT was expressed. CP-RT but not CP interacted with the movement protein TGB1 in the yeast two-hybrid system. CP-RT and TGB1 were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in virus particles and the long-distance movement of RNA-CP was correlated with expression of CP-RT that interacted with TGB1; mutant RNA-CP expressing truncated CP-RT proteins that did not interact with TGB1 formed virions but did not move to upper noninoculated leaves. The results indicate that PMTV RNA-CP can move long distance in two distinct forms: either as a viral ribonucleoprotein complex or as particles that are most likely associated with CP-RT and TGB1.