Cilevirus infection: An approach to the viral-plant protein interplay

• Grant number: 16/23870-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: February 01, 2017
• End date: January 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Principal Investigator: Marcos Antonio Machado
• Grantee: Gabriella Dias Arena
• Supervisor: Bryce W. Falk
• Host Institution: Instituto Agronômico (IAC). Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios (APTA). Secretaria de Agricultura e Abastecimento (São Paulo - Estado). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of California, Davis (UC Davis), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 14/00366-8 - Arabidopsis thaliana e Citrus leprosis virus-C: a model for the plant-pathogen interaction study, BP.DR

Abstract

Citrus leprosis virus C (CiLV-C), type member of the genus Cilevirus, is an enveloped (+) ssRNA virus that atypically does not spread systemically in its plant hosts. Upon virus inoculation using viruliferous Brevipalpus sp. mites, only local lesions are observed and the viral infection remains restricted to cells around the inoculation sites. Half of the CiLV-C encoded genes have unknown functions and they lack of homologs in other viral species. Preliminary studies indicated the activation of salicylic acid pathway and RNA silencing, and suppression of jasmonate/ethylene pathways during CiLV-C infection. This modulation of plant defenses results in a hypersensitive-like response and the promotion of the mite vector colonization. However, despite of the economic importance of citrus leprosis disease and the biological relevance of CiLV-C, information about plant-virus interaction is still incomplete. Nature of plant proteins that putatively sense and trigger the host immune response upon CiLV-C infection and which viral-encoded partner is responsible for this interaction are two aspects utterly unsuspected. Current proposal is intended to identify the putative CiLV-C encoded effectors and their targets during the viral replication in plants. Tagged CiLV-C ORFs will be expressed in Arabidopsis plants aiming to elucidate the ORF ability in stimulate defense responses. Putative viral-plant protein complexes will be isolated through co-imunnoprecipitation and subsequently identified by using mass spectrometry. Generated data will contribute to recognize plant and virus proteins involved in the induction of HR and will provide information about their role modulating the behavior of the cilevirus vectors. Expected results will improve our understanding of the CiLV-C / plant defense interplay, consolidating a model of plant-cilevirus/vector interaction.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ARENA, GABRIELLA D.; RAMOS-GONZALEZ, PEDRO L.; ROGERIO, LUANA A.; RIBEIRO-ALVES, MARCELO; CASTEEL, CLARE L.; FREITAS-ASTUA, JULIANA; MACHADO, MARCOS A.. Making a Better Home: Modulation of Plant Defensive Response by Brevipalpus Mites. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE, v. 9, AUG 15 2018. (17/50222-0, 14/50880-0, 14/00366-8, 16/23870-9)

ARENA, GABRIELLA D.; RAMOS-GONZALEZ, PEDRO LUIS; FALK, BRYCE W.; CASTEEL, CLARE L.; FREITAS-ASTUA, JULIANA; MACHADO, MARCOS A.. Plant Immune System Activation Upon Citrus Leprosis Virus C Infection Is Mimicked by the Ectopic Expression of the P61 Viral Protein. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE, v. 11, AUG 7 2020. (16/23870-9, 17/50222-0, 14/00366-8, 19/02137-0, 14/50880-0)