The Potyvirus Silencing Suppressor Protein VPg Mediates Degradation of SGS3 via Ubiquitination and Autophagy Pathways
Bibliographic record
Abstract
RNA silencing is an innate antiviral immunity response of plants and animals. To counteract this host immune response, viruses have evolved an effective strategy to protect themselves by the expression of viral suppressors of RNA silencing (VSRs). Most potyviruses encode two VSRs, helper component-proteinase (HC-Pro) and viral genome-linked protein (VPg). The molecular biology of the former has been well characterized, whereas how VPg exerts its function in the suppression of RNA silencing is yet to be understood. In this study, we show that infection by Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) causes reduced levels of suppressor of gene silencing 3 (SGS3), a key component of the RNA silencing pathway that functions in double-stranded RNA synthesis for virus-derived small interfering RNA (vsiRNA) production. We also demonstrate that among 11 TuMV-encoded viral proteins, VPg is the only one that interacts with SGS3. We furthermore present evidence that the expression of VPg alone, independent of viral infection, is sufficient to induce the degradation of SGS3 and its intimate partner RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 6 (RDR6). Moreover, we discover that the VPg-mediated degradation of SGS3 occurs via both the 20S ubiquitin-proteasome and autophagy pathways. Taken together, our data suggest a role for VPg-mediated degradation of SGS3 in suppression of silencing by VPg. IMPORTANCE: Potyviruses represent the largest group of known plant viruses and cause significant losses of many agriculturally important crops in the world. In order to establish infection, potyviruses must overcome the host antiviral silencing response. A viral protein called VPg has been shown to play a role in this process, but how it works is unclear. In this paper, we found that the VPg protein of Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV), which is a potyvirus, interacts with a host protein named SGS3, a key protein in the RNA silencing pathway. Moreover, this interaction leads to the degradation of SGS3 and its interacting and functional partner RDR6, which is another essential component of the RNA silencing pathway. We also identified the cellular pathways that are recruited for the VPg-mediated degradation of SGS3. Therefore, this work reveals a possible mechanism by which VPg sabotages host antiviral RNA silencing to promote virus infection.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".