BIOPL 652.1 Molecular Plant Pathology

Virus Replication: Cellular Interactions

30 January 2002 S. Lazarowitz

 

A.      Important questions

1.       What are the molecular and cellular events that allow virus multiplication?

2.       What steps are virus-specific (potential targets for resistance)?

3.       c. How do viruses modify host cells to promote their own multiplication?

B.   Virus Definitions and Basic Principles (Lazarowitz 2001).

1.       Unique properties of viruses

a.       Obligate intracellular parasites that do not undergo binary fission

b.       Parasitic genomes related to plasmids, but that can exist in 2 forms: (1) extracellular metabolically inert form (the virion); and (2) intracellular replicating form.

2.       Virus families defined by genome structure/replication strategy (primarily) plus virion morphology and diseases they cause.

3.       Structure of viral genomes:  DNA or RNA, single (ss) or double (ds) strand

a.       ssRNA viruses defined as positive-sense or negative-sense. 

C.      The pathogenic process as a competition between virus and host

1.       Nonhost:  not permissive for virus replication

2.       Host:  non-specific or specific defenses

                                     a.      Specific plant defenses: R genes (HR), RNAi

                                     b.      Virus counterstrategy

i.         Mutate Avr recognized by plant R gene product

ii.       Encode suppressor of RNAi defense

                                     c.      Viral Avr can be CP, Rep or MP

D.      Virus multiplication:  Viruses do it from within.

1.       Stages of viral life cycle: (1) attachment; (2) penetration and uncoating; (3) synthesis and replication; (4) progeny virus assembly; (5) release

2.       Based originally on studies of animal viruses and phage

3.       Getting In and Out:  Consequences of the cell wall, plant viruses differ at stages (1) attachment, and (5) release.

                                     a.      No evidence for specific receptors on plant cell walls.

                                     b.      Move cell-to-cell without going through an extracellular phase.

E.   Intracellular replication. Viruses play by the rules:  Consequence of being obligate intracellular parasites -- it’s all quite logical, really. (Knipe & Howley, Chapters 5, 6 and 14).

1.   DNA viruses: genes organized and expressed as are host genes, encode own replication initiation protein, but use host DNA replicating enzymes for synthesis

2.   RNA viruses: provide their own RNA-dependent RNA polymerase

3.   Eukaryotes:  Genes each have their own promoter and termination sequences, mRNAs are polycistronic, with 5’-caps and  3’-polyA tails. 

a.       Animal and plant DNA viruses replicate in the nucleus (exception: poxviruses)

i.         Viral proteins required for transcription, replication and encapsidation will have nuclear localization signals (NLSs)

ii.       Some viral proteins may shuttle between the nucleus and cytoplasm.  These will contain nuclear export sequences (NESs) in addition to NLSs.

b.       Animal and plant RNA viruses replicate in cytoplasm (exceptions: influenza viruses, retroviruses): 

i.         Reconcile genome structure with eukaryotic requirement for monocistronic mRNAs

c.       Viruses have evolved novel expression strategies to maximize their coding capacity while ‘playing by the rules’. 

F.   Specific examples of plant virus multiplication.

1.   Potyviruses (Tobacco Etch Virus, TEV):  polyprotein (Kasschau and Carrington 1995; Li and Carrington 1995; Verchot and Carrington 1995; Verchot and Carrington 1995; Schaad et al. 1996; Daros and Carrington 1997; Haldeman-Cahill et al. 1998)

2.   Tobamoviruses (Tobacco Mosaic Virus, TMV):  subgenomic RNA and readthrough (Young et al. 1987; Valle et al. 1992; Bao et al. 1996; Schmitz et al. 1996; Urban et al. 1996)

3.   Geminiviruses (Squash Leaf Curl, Tomato Golden Mosaic, and Wheat Dwarf): DNA virus (Heyraud et al. 1993; Eagle et al. 1994; Fontes et al. 1994; Pascal et al. 1994; Heyraud-Nitschke et al. 1995; Laufs et al. 1995; Sanderfoot et al. 1996; Lazarowitz et al. 1998; Qin et al. 1998; Ward and Lazarowitz 1999)

G.   Viruses promote their own multiplication, usually at the expense of the host.  This can involve redirecting host metabolic pathways and using cell macromolecular trafficking pathways. Specific examples for plant viruses:

1.   Inhibit/redirect DNA/RNA synthesis (direct or indirect):  Geminiviruses and the requirement for host DNA synthesizing enzymes (Nagar, et al. 1995; Xie et al. 1995; Ach et al. 1997; Gutierrez 2000; Kong et al. 2000).

2.   ER and Golgi:

a.   Cell secretory pathway for modification, processing, and membrane targeting of glycoproteins

b.   Replication of RNA viruses occurs in association with cytoplasmic membranes (ER).  This has been known since the mid-1970s for poliovirus.  Recent studies have shown specific targeting of RNA replication complexes to and remodeling of ER membranes for TMV and TEV.  (Schaad et al. 1997; Reichel and Beachy 1998).  

c    Plant virus movement involves ER: Viral MPs target to ER (Ward et al. 1997; Heinlein et al. 1998; Lazarowitz and Beachy 1999). 

3.   Cytoskeleton: It has recently been shown that DNA animal viruses move along actin filaments and microtubules to the nucleus during uncoating (e.g. Adenovirus, Herpes simplex virus) (Greber et al. 1993; Sodeik et al. 1997; Li et al. 1998). 

a.   This is likely to be true for plant DNA viruses (geminiviruses) and pararetroviruses (caulimoviruses), although it has not as yet been demonstrated. 

b.   The TMV MP tracks on actin filaments and microtubules through the cytoplasm (Heinlein, Padgett et al. 1998).

4.   Nuclear import and nuclear export:

a.   Plant DNA virus proteins required for replication, transcription, encapsidation and movement have been shown to be nuclear targeted or nuclear shuttle proteins.  For some plant viruses RNA nuclear targeting may be a mechanism to ‘get rid’ of proteins as part of the temporal control for viral replication.  (CaMV, SqLCV, TEV) (Gorlich and Mattaj 1996; Sanderfoot et al. 1996; Schaad, Haldeman-Cahill et al. 1996; Lartey and Citovsky 1997; Li et al. 1997; Smith and Raikhel 1998; Weis 1998; Ward and Lazarowitz 1999)

      5.   Plasmodesmata:

a.   Plant virus MPs modify plasmodesmata so that viral genomes can be transported across the cell wall (Carrington et al. 1998; Santa Cruz et al. 1998; Lazarowitz and Beachy 1999; Yang et al. 2000). 

 

Additional Web Resource Sites:

PLPA 705 (Phytovirology): http://ppathw3.cals.cornell.edu/Virology/pp705/PP705.htm

BIOMI 409 (Principles of Virology): http://ppathw3.cals.cornell.edu/Virology/BioMi%20409/BioMi409.htm

 

General Background Reading (for those who are interested):

                              *Flint, S.J. et al. (1999). “Principles of Virology”

                              *Knipe, D.M. and Howley, P.M. (2001). "Fundamental Virology" 4th  Edition

                              Agrios, G.N. (1997). “Plant Pathology”, 4th Edition

                             

*Up to date, comprehensive, and highly recommended.  Flint et al. has excellent figures that illustrate many principles and techniques.  Knipe and Howley covers all virus families in terms of replication and pathogenesis, and has much not included in Flint et al. 

 

In particular: 

Virus structure, multiplication and genetics

Flint          Chapter 1 “Foundations of Virology” (some virus history!)

                 Chapter 2 “Virus Cultivation, Detection and Genetics”

 

Knipe &     Chapter 3 (Harrison) “Principles of Virus Structure

Howley      Chapter 14 (Lazarowitz) “Plant Viruses” (a must, obviously!!)

                 Chapter 5 (Ball) “Replication Strategies of RNA Viruses”

                 Chapter 6 (DiMaio and Coen) “Replication Strategies of RNA Viruses”

 

Insect transmission of plant viruses

Gray, S. M. and N. Banerjee (1999). “Mechanisms of arthropod transmission of plant and animal viruses.” Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. X: xx-yy.

Gray, S. M. and D. Rochon (1999). Vector transmission of plant viruses. Encyclopedia of Virology. A. Granoff and R. G. Webster. San Diego, Academic Press. 3: 1899-1910.

 

References (cited in outline for January 30, 2002): Plant Virus Specific

Ach, R. A., T. Durfee, et al. (1997). “RRB1 and RRB2 encode maize retinoblastoma-related proteins that interact with a plant D-type cyclin and geminivirus replication protein.” Mol Cell Biol 17(9): 5077-86.

Bao, Y., S. A. Carter, et al. (1996). “The 126- and 183-kilodalton proteins of tobacco mosaic virus, and not their common nucleotide sequence, control mosaic symptom formation in tobacco.” J Virol 70(9): 6378-83.

Carrington, J. C., P. E. Jensen, et al. (1998). “Genetic evidence for an essential role for potyvirus CI protein in cell-to-cell movement.” Plant J 14(4): 393-400.

Daros, J. A. and J. C. Carrington (1997). “RNA binding activity of NIa proteinase of tobacco etch potyvirus.” Virology 237(2): 327-36.

Eagle, P. A., B. M. Orozco, et al. (1994). “A DNA sequence required for geminivirus replication also mediates transcriptional regulation.” Plant Cell 6(8): 1157-1170.

Fontes, E. P., P. A. Eagle, et al. (1994). “Interaction between a geminivirus replication protein and origin DNA is essential for viral replication.” J Biol Chem 269(11): 8459-8465.

Gutierrez, C. (2000). “DNA replication and cell cycle in plants: learning from geminiviruses.” Embo J 19(5): 792-9.

Haldeman-Cahill, R., J. A. Daros, et al. (1998). “Secondary structures in the capsid protein coding sequence and 3' nontranslated region involved in amplification of the tobacco etch virus genome.” J Virol 72(5): 4072-9.

Heinlein, M., H. S. Padgett, et al. (1998). “Changing patterns of localization of the tobacco mosaic virus movement protein and replicase to the endoplasmic reticulum and microtubules during infection.” Plant Cell 10(7): 1107-1120.

Heyraud, F., V. Matzeit, et al. (1993). “The conserved nonanucleotide motif of the geminivirus stem-loop sequence promotes replicational release of virus molecules from redundant copies.” Biochimie 75(7): 605-15.

Heyraud-Nitschke, F., S. Schumacher, et al. (1995). “Determination of the origin cleavage and joining domain of geminivirus Rep proteins.” Nucl. Acids Res. 23(6): 910-916.

Kasschau, K. D. and J. C. Carrington (1995). “Requirement for HC-Pro processing during genome amplification of tobacco etch potyvirus.” Virology 209(1): 268-273.

Kong, L. J., B. M. Orozco, et al. (2000). “A geminivirus replication protein interacts with the retinoblastoma protein through a novel domain to determine symptoms and tissue specificity of infection in plants.” Embo J 19(13): 3485-95.

Lartey, R. and V. Citovsky (1997). “Nucleic acid transport in plant-pathogen interactions.” Genet Eng (N Y) 19: 201-14.

Laufs, J., I. Jupin, et al. (1995). “Geminivirus replication: genetic and biochemical characterization of Rep protein function, a review.” Biochimie 77(10): 765-773.

Lazarowitz, S. G. (2001). Plant Viruses. Virology. P. M. H. a. D. M. Knipe. Philadelphia, Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins: Chapter 14.

Lazarowitz, S. G. and R. N. Beachy (1999). “Viral movement proteins as probes for investigating intracellular and intercellular trafficking in plants.” Plant Cell 11: 535-548.

Li, X. H. and J. C. Carrington (1995). “Complementation of tobacco etch potyvirus mutants by active RNA polymerase expressed in transgenic cells.” Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 92(2): 457-61.

Li, X. H., P. Valdez, et al. (1997). “Functions of the tobacco etch virus RNA polymerase (NIb): subcellular transport and protein-protein interaction with VPg/proteinase (NIa).” J Virol 71(2): 1598-607.

Nagar, S., T. J. Pedersen, et al. (1995). “A geminivirus induces expression of a host DNA synthesis protein in terminally differentiated plant cells.” Plant Cell 7(6): 705-19.

Pascal, E., A. A. Sanderfoot, et al. (1994). “The geminivirus BR1 movement protein binds single-stranded DNA and localizes to the cell nucleus.” Plant Cell 6: 995-1006.

Qin, S., B. M. Ward, et al. (1998). “The bipartite geminivirus coat protein aids BR1 function in viral movement by affecting the accumulation of viral single-stranded DNA.” J. Virol. 72(11): 9247-9256.

Reichel, C. and R. N. Beachy (1998). “Tobacco mosaic virus infection induces severe morphological changes of the endoplasmic reticulum.” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95(19): 11169-11174.

Sanderfoot, A. A., D. J. Ingham, et al. (1996). “A viral movement protein as a nuclear shuttle:  The geminivirus BR1 movement protein contains domains essential for interaction with BL1 and nuclear localization.” Plant Physiol. 110: 23-33.

Santa Cruz, S., A. G. Roberts, et al. (1998). “Cell to cell and phloem-mediated movement of potato virus X: the role of virions.” Plant Cell: in press.

Schaad, M. C., R. Haldeman-Cahill, et al. (1996). “Analysis of the VPg-proteinase (NIa) encoded by tobacco etch potyvirus: effects of mutations on subcellular transport, proteolytic processing, and genome amplification.” J Virol 70(10): 7039-48.

Schaad, M. C., P. E. Jensen, et al. (1997). “Formation of plant RNA virus replication complexes on membranes: role of an endoplasmic reticulum-targeted viral protein.” Embo J 16(13): 4049-59.

Schmitz, J., D. Prufer, et al. (1996). “Non-canonical translation mechanisms in plants: efficient in vitro and in planta initiation at AUU codons of the tobacco mosaic virus enhancer sequence.” Nucleic Acids Res 24(2): 257-63.

Urban, C., K. Zerfass, et al. (1996). “UGA suppression by tRNACmCATrp occurs in diverse virus RNAs due to a limited influence of the codon context.” Nucleic Acids Res 24(17): 3424-30.

Valle, R. P., G. Drugeon, et al. (1992). “Codon context effect in virus translational readthrough. A study in vitro of the determinants of TMV and Mo-MuLV amber suppression.” FEBS Lett 306(2-3): 133-9.

Verchot, J. and J. C. Carrington (1995). “Debilitation of plant potyvirus infectivity by P1 proteinase-inactivating mutations and restoration by second-site modifications.” J Virol 69(3): 1582-90.

Verchot, J. and J. C. Carrington (1995). “Evidence that the potyvirus P1 proteinase functions in trans as an accessory factor for genome amplification.” J. Virol. 69(6): 3668-3674.

Ward, B. M. and S. G. Lazarowitz (1999). “Nuclear export in plants:  Use of geminivirus movement proteins for an in vivo cell based export assay.” Plant Cell 11: 1267-1276.

Ward, B. M., R. Medville, et al. (1997). “The geminivirus BL1 movement protein is associated with endoplasmic reticulum-derived tubules in developing phloem cells.” J. Virology 71: 3726-3733.

Xie, Q., P. Suarez-Lopez, et al. (1995). “Identification and analysis of a retinoblastoma binding motif in the replication protein of a plant DNA virus: requirement for efficient viral DNA replication.” Embo J 14(16): 4073-82.

Yang, Y., B. Ding, et al. (2000). “Cell-to-cell movement of the 25K protein of potato virus X is regulated by three other viral proteins.” MPMI 13: 599-605.

Young, N. D., J. Forney, et al. (1987). “Tobacco mosaic virus replicase and replicative structures.” J. Cell Sci. 7: 277-285.

 

Additional Cited General Reviews and Animal Virus References

Gorlich, D. and I. W. Mattaj (1996). “Nucleocytoplasmic transport.” Science 271(5255): 1513-8.

Greber, U. F., M. Willetts, et al. (1993). “Stepwise dismantling of adenovirus 2 during entry into cells.” Cell 75: 477-486.

Li, E., D. Stupack, et al. (1998). “Adenovirus endocytosis requires actin cytoskeleton reorganization mediated by Rho family GTPases.” J Virol 72(11): 8806-12.

Smith, H. M. and N. V. Raikhel (1998). “Nuclear localization signal receptor importin alpha associates with the cytoskeleton.” Plant Cell 10(11): 1791-9.

Sodeik, B., M. W. Ebersold, et al. (1997). “Microtubule-mediated transport of incoming herpes simplex virus 1 capsids to the nucleus.” J Cell Biol 136(5): 1007-21.

Weis, K. (1998). “Importins and exportins: how to get in and out of the nucleus.” Trends Biochem Sci 23(5): 185-9.