A viral satellite RNA induces yellow symptoms on tobacco by targeting a gene involved in chlorophyll biosynthesis using the RNA silencing machinery.

ABSTRACT: Symptoms on virus-infected plants are often very specific to the given virus. The molecular mechanisms involved in viral symptom induction have been extensively studied, but are still poorly understood. Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) Y satellite RNA (Y-sat) is a non-coding subviral RNA and modifies the typical symptom induced by CMV in specific hosts; Y-sat causes a bright yellow mosaic on its natural host Nicotiana tabacum. The Y-sat-induced yellow mosaic failed to develop in the infected Arabidopsis and tomato plants suggesting a very specific interaction between Y-sat and its host. In this study, we revealed that Y-sat produces specific short interfering RNAs (siRNAs), which interfere with a host gene, thus inducing the specific symptom. We found that the mRNA of tobacco magnesium protopor

SUBMITTER: Shimura H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3088725 | biostudies-literature | 2011 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature