Generation of Attenuated Mutants of East Asian Passiflora Virus for Disease Management by Cross Protection.

East Asian passiflora virus (EAPV) seriously affects passionfruit production in Taiwan and Vietnam. In this study, an infectious clone of the EAPV Taiwan strain (EAPV-TW) was constructed, and EAPV-TWnss, with an nss tag attached to its helper component-protease (HC-Pro), was generated for monitoring the virus. Four conserved motifs of EAPV-TW HC-Pro were manipulated to create single mutations of FI (simplified as I), RI (I), FL (L), and EN (N) and double mutations of II, IL, IN, IL, IN, and LN. Four mutants, EAPV II, IN, IL, and IN, infected and yellow passionfruit plants without conspicuous symptoms. Mutants EAPV IN and IN were stable after six passages in yellow passionfruit plants and expressed a zigzag pattern of accumulation dynamic, typical of beneficial protective viruses. An agroinfiltration assay indicated that the RNA silencing suppression capabilities of the four double mutated HC-Pros are significantly reduced. Mutant EAPV IN accumulated the highest level of the small interfering RNA at 10 days postinoculation (dpi) in plants, then dropped to background levels after 15 dpi. In both and yellow passionfruit plants, EAPV IN conferred complete cross protection (100%) against severe EAPV-TWnss, as defined by no severe symptoms and absence of the challenge virus, checked by Western blotting and reverse transcription PCR. Mutant EAPV IN provided high degrees of complete protection against EAPV-TWnss in yellow passionfruit plants (90%) but not in plants (0%). Both mutants showed complete protection (100%) against the Vietnam severe strain EAPV-GL1 in passionfruit plants. Thus, the mutants EAPV IN and IN have excellent potential for controlling EAPV in Taiwan and Vietnam. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.