The
vast majority of plant viruses are transmitted by insect vectors,
with many crucial aspects of the transmission process being mediated
by key protein–protein interactions. Still, very few vector
proteins interacting with viruses have been identified and functionally
characterized. Potato leafroll virus (PLRV) is transmitted
most efficiently by Myzus persicae,
the green peach aphid, in a circulative, non-propagative manner. Using
affinity purification coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry
(AP–MS), we identified 11 proteins from M. persicaedisplaying a high probability of interaction with PLRV and an additional
23 vector proteins with medium confidence interaction scores. Three
of these aphid proteins were confirmed to directly interact with the
structural proteins of PLRV and other luteovirid species via yeast two-hybrid. Immunolocalization of one of these direct PLRV-interacting
proteins, an orthologue of the human innate immunity protein complement
component 1 Q subcomponent-binding protein (C1QBP), shows that MpC1QBP
partially co-localizes with PLRV in cytoplasmic puncta and along the
periphery of aphid gut epithelial cells. Artificial diet delivery
to aphids of a chemical inhibitor of C1QBP leads to increased PLRV
acquisition by aphids and subsequently increased titer in inoculated
plants, supporting a role for C1QBP in the acquisition and transmission
efficiency of PLRV by M. persicae.
This study presents the first use of AP–MS for the in vivo isolation of a functionally relevant insect vector–virus
protein complex. MS data are available from ProteomeXchange.org using
the project identifier PXD022167.