Synergistic infection of two viruses MCMV and SCMV increases the accumulations of both MCMV and MCMV-derived siRNAs in maize

Abstract

The co-infection of Maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) and Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) can cause maize lethal necrosis. However, the mechanism underlying the synergistic interaction between these two viruses remains elusive. In this study, we found that the co-infection of MCMV and SCMV increased the accumulation of MCMV. Moreover, the profiles of virus-derived siRNAs (vsiRNAs) from MCMV and SCMV in single- and co-infected maize plants were obtained by high-throughput sequencing. Our data showed that synergistic infection of MCMV and SCMV increased remarkably the accumulation of vsiRNAs from MCMV, which were mainly 22 and 21 nucleotides in length. The single-nucleotide resolution maps of vsiRNAs revealed that vsiRNAs were almost continuously but heterogeneously distributed throughout MCMV and SCMV genomic RNAs, respectively. Moreover, we predicted and annotated dozens of host transcript genes targeted by vsiRNAs. Our results also showed that maize DCLs and several AGOs RNAs were differentially accumulated in maize plants with different treatments (mock, single or double inoculations), which were associated with the accumulation of vsiRNAs. Our findings suggested possible roles of vsiRNAs in the synergistic interaction of MCMV and SCMV in maize plants.

A Violaxanthin Deepoxidase Interacts with a Viral Suppressor of RNA Silencing to Inhibit Virus Amplification

“…Northern blotting was performed with [a-32 P]dCTP randomly labeled cDNA probes, which were from 62 to 673 nucleotides of the GFP sequences. The probes were labeled, and the blots were probed and washed as reported previously (Xia et al, 2016). Approximately 30-mg total RNA samples were prepared to detect GFP siRNAs, and the blots were probed and washed as described previously (Xia et al, 2014).…”

Synergistic infection of BrYV and PEMV 2 increases the accumulations of both BrYV and BrYV-derived siRNAs in Nicotiana benthamiana

“…A number of devastating crop diseases are the outcomes of viral synergism222324. Viral synergism can alter viral traits such as virus accumulation202325, tissue tropism26, host range27 and transmission rate28. There is accumulating evidence that interviral synergy can affect the characteristics of vsiRNAs derived from co-infecting viruses2529.…”

“…Viral synergism can alter viral traits such as virus accumulation202325, tissue tropism26, host range27 and transmission rate28. There is accumulating evidence that interviral synergy can affect the characteristics of vsiRNAs derived from co-infecting viruses2529. It has been reported that synergistic interaction between crinivirus Sweet potato chlorotic stunt virus (SPCSV) and begomovirus Sweet potato leaf curl virus isolate StV1 in sweet potato leads to specific changes in the relative abundance and distribution of SPCSV-derived siRNAs, implying a distinctive influence of begomoviruses on RNA silencing of SPCSV in synergy29.…”

Further characterization of Maize chlorotic mottle virus and its synergistic interaction with Sugarcane mosaic virus in maize

“…The crude extracts were centrifuged at 12,000×  g for 15 min at room temperature, and the resulting supernatant (15 μl per sample plus 15 μl 2× SDS loading buffer) was electrophoresed in 12.5% SDS-PAGE gels followed by transferring proteins to nitrocellulose membranes performed as previously reported41. The membranes were then probed with the MCMV-specific monoclonal antibody31 followed by a goat anti-mouse secondary antibody conjugated to horseradish peroxidase (Bio-Rad, Los Angeles, CA, USA).…”