TMV-derived Small RNAs Reveals Role for Arabidopsis thaliana RNA-dependent RNA Polymerases in Viral siRNA Biogenesis

ABSTRACT: Using a crucifer-infecting strain of Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV-Cg) and Arabidopsis thaliana as a model system, we analyzed the viral small RNA profile in wild-type plants as well as rdr mutants by applying small RNA deep sequencing technology. Over 100,000 TMV-Cg-specific small RNA reads, mostly of 21- (78.4%) and 22-nucleotide (12.9%) in size and originating predominately (79.9%) from the genomic sense RNA strand, were captured at an early infection stage, yielding the first high-resolution small RNA map for a plant virus. The TMV-Cg genome harbored multiple, highly reproducible small RNA-generating hot spots that corresponded to regions with no apparent local hairpin-forming capacity. Significantly, both the rdr1 and rdr6 mutants exhibited globally reduced levels of viral small RNA production as well as reduced strand bias in viral small RNA population, revealing an important role for these host RDRs in viral siRNA biogenesis. In addition, an informatics analysis showed that a large set of host genes could be potentially targeted by TMV-Cg-derived siRNAs for posttranscriptional silencing, raising the interesting possibility for a hidden layer of widespread virus-host interactions that may contribute to viral pathogenicity and host specificity. Profiling of TMV-Cg derived small RNAs in systemically infected tissues of wild type (Col-0) Arabidopsis as well as the rdr1and rdr6 mutants, at 3 days post-infection.

ORGANISM(S): Youcai mosaic virus

SUBMITTER: Zhixin Xie 

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-12918 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress