From hypo- to hypersuppression: effect of amino acid substitutions on the RNA-silencing suppressor activity of the Tobacco etch potyvirus HC-Pro.

ABSTRACT: RNA silencing participates in several important functions: from the regulation of cell metabolism and organism development to sequence-specific antiviral defense. Most plant viruses have evolved proteins that suppress RNA silencing and that in many cases are multifunctional. Tobacco etch potyvirus (TEV) HC-Pro protein suppresses RNA silencing and participates in aphid-mediated transmission, polyprotein processing, and genome amplification. In this study, we have generated 28 HC-Pro amino acid substitution mutants and quantified their capacity as suppressors of RNA silencing in a transient expression assay. Most mutations either had no quantitative effect or completely abolished silencing suppression (10 in each class), 3 caused a significant decrease in the activity, and 5 significantly in

SUBMITTER: Torres-Barcelo C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2567354 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature