Fig mosaic emaravirus p4 protein is involved in cell-to-cell movement

J Gen Virol. 2013 Mar;94(Pt 3):682-686. doi: 10.1099/vir.0.047860-0. Epub 2012 Nov 14.

Abstract

Fig mosaic virus (FMV), a member of the newly formed genus Emaravirus, is a segmented negative-strand RNA virus. Each of the six genomic FMV segments contains a single ORF: that of RNA4 encodes the protein p4. FMV-p4 is presumed to be the movement protein (MP) of the virus; however, direct experimental evidence for this is lacking. We assessed the intercellular distribution of FMV-p4 in plant cells by confocal laser scanning microscopy and we found that FMV-p4 was localized to plasmodesmata and to the plasma membrane accompanied by tubule-like structures. A series of experiments designed to examine the movement functions revealed that FMV-p4 has the capacity to complement viral cell-to-cell movement, prompt GFP diffusion between cells, and spread by itself to neighbouring cells. Altogether, our findings demonstrated that FMV-p4 shares several properties with other viral MPs and plays an important role in cell-to-cell movement.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Agrobacterium tumefaciens
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Viral
  • Genes, Viral
  • Luminescent Proteins / genetics
  • Luminescent Proteins / metabolism
  • Nicotiana / virology
  • Plant Leaves / metabolism
  • Plant Leaves / virology
  • Plant Viral Movement Proteins / genetics
  • Plant Viral Movement Proteins / metabolism
  • Plant Viral Movement Proteins / physiology*
  • Plant Viruses / physiology*
  • Plants, Genetically Modified
  • Plasmodesmata / virology
  • RNA, Viral / genetics

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Luminescent Proteins
  • Plant Viral Movement Proteins
  • RNA, Viral
  • yellow fluorescent protein, Bacteria