Abstract
Almost nothing is known of the earliest stages of plant virus infections. To address this, we
microinjected Cy3 (UTP)-labelled tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) into living tobacco trichome
cells. The Cy3-virions were infectious, and the viral genome trafficked cell-to-cell. However,
neither the fluorescent vRNA pool nor co-injected GFP left the injected trichome, indicating
that the synthesis of unlabelled progeny viral (v)RNA is required to initiate cell-cell movement,
and that virus movement is not accompanied by passive plasmodesmatal gating. Cy3-vRNA
formed granules that became anchored to the motile cortical actin/ER network within minutes
of injection. Granule movement on actin/ER was arrested by actin inhibitors indicating actindependent
RNA movement. The 5’ methylguanosine TMV cap was shown to be required for
vRNA anchoring to the ER. TMV vRNA lacking the 5’cap failed to form granules and was
degraded in the cytoplasm. Removal of the 3’UTR and replicase both inhibited replication but
did not prevent granule formation and movement. Dual-labelled TMV virions in which the
vRNA and the coat protein were highlighted with different fluorophores showed both
fluorescent signals to be initially located on the same ER-bound granules, indicating that
TMV virions may become attached to the ER prior to uncoating of the viral genome.
Original language | English |
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Publication date | 2009 |
Publication status | Published - 2009 |
Event | Plant Biotech Denmark Annual meeting 2009 - Copenhagen (DK), 29-30 Jan. Duration: 1 Jan 2009 → … |
Conference
Conference | Plant Biotech Denmark Annual meeting 2009 |
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City | Copenhagen (DK), 29-30 Jan. |
Period | 01/01/2009 → … |
Keywords
- Bio energy
- Ecosystems, climate effects, greenhouse gasses