Mosquito and Drosophila entomobirnaviruses suppress dsRNA- and siRNA-induced RNAi.

ABSTRACT: RNA interference (RNAi) is a crucial antiviral defense mechanism in insects, including the major mosquito species that transmit important human viruses. To counteract the potent antiviral RNAi pathway, insect viruses encode RNAi suppressors. However, whether mosquito-specific viruses suppress RNAi remains unclear. We therefore set out to study RNAi suppression by Culex Y virus (CYV), a mosquito-specific virus of the Birnaviridae family that was recently isolated from Culex pipiens mosquitoes. We found that the Culex RNAi machinery processes CYV double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) into viral small interfering RNAs (vsiRNAs). Furthermore, we show that RNAi is suppressed in CYV-infected cells and that the viral VP3 protein is responsible for RNAi antagonism. We demonstrate that VP3 can functionally r

SUBMITTER: van Cleef KW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4117760 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature