Viroids: Non-coding Circular RNAs Are Tiny Pathogens Provoking a Broad Response in Host Plants

Steger, Gerhard; Wüsthoff, Kevin P.; Matoušek, Jaroslav; Riesner, Detlev

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-36390-0_14

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Viroids are now subdivided into the families Pospiviroidae and Avsunviroidae , which are located mainly in the nucleus and the chloroplast, respectively. Their locations also suggest their usage of different replication strategies, host polymerases, structural elements, and trafficking [ 13 , 109 , 110 , 111 ]. The knowledge on viroid-induced symptoms is increasing, but still not solved fully.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Viroids, Satellite RNAs and Prions: Folding of Nucleic Acids and Misfolding of Proteins

Steger,

Riesner,

Prusiner

2024

Viruses

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Theodor (“Ted”) Otto Diener (* 28 February 1921 in Zürich, Switzerland; † 28 March 2023 in Beltsville, MD, USA) pioneered research on viroids while working at the Plant Virology Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, USDA, in Beltsville. He coined the name viroid and defined viroids’ important features like the infectivity of naked single-stranded RNA without protein-coding capacity. During scientific meetings in the 1970s and 1980s, viroids were often discussed at conferences together with other “subviral pathogens”. This term includes what are now called satellite RNAs and prions. Satellite RNAs depend on a helper virus and have linear or, in the case of virusoids, circular RNA genomes. Prions, proteinaceous infectious particles, are the agents of scrapie, kuru and some other diseases. Many satellite RNAs, like viroids, are non-coding and exert their function by thermodynamically or kinetically controlled folding, while prions are solely host-encoded proteins that cause disease by misfolding, aggregation and transmission of their conformations into infectious prion isoforms. In this memorial, we will recall the work of Ted Diener on subviral pathogens.

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