Expanding the Plant Virome: Umbra-Like Viruses Use Host Proteins for Movement.

Annu Rev Virol

Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA; email:

Published: September 2024

AI Article Synopsis

  • The discovery of umbra-like viruses (ULVs) challenges the traditional view of plant RNA viruses, which are known for encoding specialized movement proteins (MPs) for spreading their RNA genomes.
  • ULVs lack the typical MPs and do not need helper viruses for encapsidation, indicating a simpler requirement for systemic infection in plants.
  • The ULV CY1 from citrus demonstrates that it can use a host protein called PHLOEM PROTEIN 2 (PP2) for movement, suggesting a similar mechanism to early plant viruses that relied on host proteins for transmission.

Article Abstract

Before the very recent discovery of umbra-like viruses (ULVs), the signature defining feature of all plant RNA viruses was the encoding of specialized RNA-binding movement proteins (MPs) for transiting their RNA genomes through gated plasmodesmata to establish systemic infections. The vast majority of ULVs share umbravirus-like RNA-dependent RNA polymerases and 3'-terminal structures, but they differ by not encoding cell-to-cell and long-distance MPs and by not relying on a helper virus for -encapsidation and plant-to-plant transmission. The recent finding that two groups of ULVs do not necessarily encode MPs is expanding our understanding of the minimum requirements for modern plant RNA viruses. ULV CY1 from citrus uses host protein PHLOEM PROTEIN 2 (PP2) for systemic movement, and related ULVs encode a capsid protein, thereby providing an explanation for the lack of helper viruses present in many ULV-infected plants. ULVs thus resemble the first viruses that infected plants, which were likely deposited from feeding organisms and would have similarly required the use of host proteins such as PP2 to exit initially infected cells.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-virology-111821-122718DOI Listing

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