Occurrence of fungally transmitted wheat mosaic viruses in China

A soil-borne mosaic disease of winter wheat in Sichuan, Shaanxi, Hubei and Henan provinces was associated with infection by a virus with filamentous particles and that in Shandong, Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces by co-infection with this virus and soil-borne wheat mosaic virus. The virus with filamentous particles was identified serologically, by particle sizes, cytopathology and the molecular weights of the coat protein and the two RNA species to be either wheat spindle streak mosaic virus (WSSMV) or wheat yellow mosaic virus. These viruses are probably isolates of the same virus and the name WSSMV is preferred. In baiting tests using infested soil, the dilution endpoints for detecting WSSMV were 1/625-1/15625, and for the fungus vector, Polymyxa graminis, 1/3125-1/15625.     

The complete sequence of a sugarcane mosaic virus isolate causing maize dwarf mosaic disease in China

The complete sequence of a potyvirus from maize in Zhejiang Province was determined. The RNA was 9596 nucleotides long, excluding the 3′-poly (A) tail, and there was a single long open reading frame (ORF) of 9192 nts encoding a 346.1 ku polyprotein. The polyprotein had substantial amino acid sequence homology with those encoded by the RNAs of a Chinese isolate of sorghum mosaic virus (SrMV-C) and a Bulgarian isolate of maize dwarf mosaic virus, but it was most closely related to sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) isolates, for which only partial sequences have been published. According to the published criteria for distinguishing potyviruses, the sequence reported here is clearly a strain of SCMV, but it also showed a surprisingly high amino acid homology with SrMV-C in the HC-Pro, P3 and Cl proteins.     

Analysis of nucleotide sequence of wheat yellow mosaic virus genomic RNAs

Wheat yellow mosaic virus (WYMV) isolate HC was used for viral cDNA synthesis and sequencing. The results show that the viral RNA1 is 7629 nueleotides encoding a polyprotein with 2407 amino acids, from which seven putative proteins may be produced by an autolytie cleavage processing besides the viral coat protein. The RNA2 is 3639 nueleotides and codes for a polypretein of 903 amino acids, which may contain two putative non-structural proteins. Although WYMV shares a similarity in genetic organization to wheat spindle streak mosaic virus (WSSMV), the identities in their nucleotide sequences or deduced amino acid sequences are as low as 70% and 75 % respectively. Based on this result, it is confirmed that WYMV and WSSMV are different species within Bymovirus.     

A barley stripe mosaic virus-based guide RNA delivery system for targeted mutagenesis in wheat and maize

Plant RNA virus-based guide RNA (gRNA) delivery has substantial advantages compared to that of the conventional constitutive promoter-driven expression due to the rapid and robust amplification of gRNAs during virus replication and movement. To date, virus-induced genome editing tools have not been developed for wheat and maize. In this study, we engineered a barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV)-based gRNA delivery system for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/Cas9-mediated targeted mutagenesis in wheat and maize. BSMV-based delivery of single gRNAs for targeted mutagenesis was first validated in Nicotiana benthamiana. To extend this work, we transformed wheat and maize with the Cas9 nuclease gene and selected the wheat TaGASR7 and maize ZmTMS5 genes as targets to assess the feasibility and efficiency of BSMV-mediated mutagenesis. Positive targeted mutagenesis of the TaGASR7 and ZmTMS5 genes was achieved for wheat and maize with efficiencies of up to 78% and 48%. Our results provide a useful tool for fast and efficient delivery of gRNAs into economically important crops.     

The complete sequence of a sugarcane mosaic virus isolate causing maize dwarf mosaic disease in China

The complete sequence of a potyvirus from maize in Zhejiang Province was determined. The RNA was 9596 nucleotides long, excluding the 3'-poly (A) tail, and there was a single long open reading frame (ORF) of 9192 nts encoding a 346.1 ku polyprotein. The polyprotein had substantial amino acid sequence homology with those encoded by the RNAs of a Chinese isolate of sorghum mosaic virus (SrMV-C) and a Bulgarian isolate of maize dwarf mosaic virus, but it was most closely related to sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) isolates, for which only partial sequences have been published. According to the published criteria for distinguishing potyviruses, the sequence reported here is clearly a strain of SCMV, but it also showed a surprisingly high amino acid homology with SrMV-C in the HC-Pro, P3 and Cl proteins.     

Durable field resistance to wheat yellow mosaic virus in transgenic wheat containing the antisense virus polymerase gene

Wheat yellow mosaic virus (WYMV) has spread rapidly and causes serious yield losses in the major wheat‐growing areas in China. Because it is vectored by the fungus‐like organism Polymyxa graminis that survives for long periods in soil, it is difficult to eliminate by conventional crop management or fungicides. There is also only limited resistance in commercial cultivars. In this research, fourteen independent transgenic events were obtained by co‐transformation with the antisense NIb8 gene (the NIb replicase of WYMV) and a selectable gene bar. Four original transgenic lines (N12, N13, N14 and N15) and an offspring line (N12‐1) showed high and durable resistance to WYMV in the field. Four resistant lines were shown to have segregated and only contain NIb8 (without bar) by PCR and herbicide resistance testing in the later generations. Line N12‐1 showed broad‐spectrum resistance to WYMV isolates from different sites in China. After growing in the infested soil, WYMV could not be detected by tissue printing and Western blot assays of transgenic wheat. The grain yield of transgenic wheat was about 10% greater than the wild‐type susceptible control. Northern blot and small RNA deep sequencing analyses showed that there was no accumulation of small interfering RNAs targeting the NIb8 gene in transgenic wheat plants, suggesting that transgene RNA silencing, a common mechanism of virus‐derived disease resistance, is not involved in the process of WYMV resistance. This durable and broad‐spectrum resistance to WYMV in transgenic wheat will be useful for alleviating the damage caused by WYMV.     

山东烟台小麦土传病毒病由小麦黄花叶病毒和土传小麦花叶病毒相关病毒复合侵染所致

在山东省烟台地区的小麦上发生一种由土壤中禾谷多粘菌Polymyxa graminis传播的病毒病,感病小麦植株表现矮化褪绿和花叶症状.我们于1997年4月从病区采集感病小麦植株,进行了病毒种类鉴定.直接电镜观察发现有二种病毒粒子,一种粒子呈棒状,占大多数,其长度约为300nm和150nm; 另一种粒子呈线状,数量较少,长度为500nm～700nm.免疫电镜结果表明,棒状病毒粒子仅与土传小麦花叶病毒(soil-borne wheat mosaic virus, SBWMV)抗血清反应,而不与小麦黄花叶病毒(wheat yellow mosaic virus,WYMV)抗血清和小麦梭条斑花叶病毒(wheat spindle streat mosaic virus,WSSMV)抗血清反应;反之,线状病毒仅与WYMV、WSSMV抗血清反应,而不与SBWMV抗血清反应.用WYMV和SBWMV两种抗血清同时进行修饰时,线状病毒粒子和棒状病毒粒子均发生反应.     

Use of Monoclonal Antibodies for the Serological Differentiation of Wheat and Oat Furoviruses

Twenty monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to Chinese wheat mosaic virus (CWMV) were produced by immunizing BALB/c mice with purified CWMV. These MAbs and polyclonal antisera against CWMV and soil-borne wheat mosaic virus Oklahoma isolate (SBWMV-Okl) were used to differentiate the wheat and oat furoviruses, CWMV, SBWMV, oat golden stripe virus (OGSV) and European wheat mosaic virus (EWMV). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and Western blotting showed that the dominant epitope(s) of CWMV was shared partially with OGSV whereas those of SBWMV were shared with CWMV, OGSV and EWMV in varying degrees. When CWMV virions were briefly digested with trypsin, coat protein fragments of about 12, 10 and 8 kDa were produced and these reacted with the polyclonal antisera and some MAbs, indicating that they contained dominant epitopes of CWMV and SBWMV. Computer analysis of the coat protein sequences suggested that the epitope shared between CWMV and OGSV was located at amino acids 35–40, whereas the dominant epitopes of SBWMV, which were shared with CWMV, EWMV and OGSV, were in the C terminal half of the coat protein     

Development of PCR markers linked to resistance to wheat streak mosaic virus in wheat

Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV), vectored by the wheat curl mite (Acer tulipae), is an important disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in the North American Great Plains. Resistant varieties have not been developed for two primary reasons. First, useful sources of resistance have not been available, and second, field screening for virus resistance is laborious and beyond the scope of most breeding programs. The first problem may have been overcome by the development of resistance to both the mite and the virus by the introgression of resistance genes from wild relatives of wheat. To help address the second problem, we have developed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) markers linked to the WSMV resistance gene Wsm1. Wsm1 is contained on a translocated segment from Agropyron intermedium. One sequence-tagged-site (STS) primer set (WG232) and one RAPD marker were found to be linked to the translocation containing Wsm1. The diagnostic RAPD band was cloned and sequenced to allow the design of specific PCR primers. The PCR primers should be useful for transferring Wsm1 into locally adapted cultivars.This is Journal Series No. J-4041 of the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station     

An Unusual Feature at the N-terminal end of the Coat Protein of Maize dwarf mosaic virus isolated in Hungary

Maize dwarf mosaic is the most widespread virus disease affecting corn production in Hungary. In attempts to identify the causal virus by test plant reactions, enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR), only Maize dwarf mosaic virus (MDMV) was detected. To further characterize Hungarian isolates of MDMV, one isolate from each of the sweet corn varieties Dallas, Royalty and GH23‐85 was selected for sequence analysis of its coat protein (CP) gene. The three Hungarian isolates shared CP amino acid sequence similarities of 95–98% not only with one another but also with MDMV isolates from other countries. However, the N‐terminus of the CP of the ‘Dallas’ isolate was unusual in containing a stretch of 13 additional amino acids. This is the first report of variation in the size of the N‐terminus of the MDMV CP.     

Distribution and influence of grazing on wheat curl mites (Aceria tosichella Keifer) within a wheat field

Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV) is a serious disease of wheat and is primarily transmitted from infected to healthy plants by the wheat curl mite, Aceria tosichella Keifer. Although wheat is the primary plant host of A. tosichella, wheat curl mites have been recorded on more than 60 different plant hosts; this broad host range allows mites to survive outside the wheat‐growing season by providing a ‘green bridge’. Despite the fact that A. tosichella can only crawl short distances, the mites can disperse via wind and thus have the capacity to readily infest wheat crops from neighbouring refuges. In this study, we undertook field trials to investigate the temporal movement of A. tosichella, as well as the importance of wind and livestock grazing on mite dispersal late in the cropping season. We demonstrate there is a window in spring when A. tosichella undergo significant movement in south‐eastern Australia, and this is likely related to the development stage of wheat plants, and may also be influenced by wind direction. We found that grazing wheat crops reduced mite numbers, suggesting that any increase in WSMV issues in ‘grain and graze’ crops is likely due to the longer season wheat varieties used in these systems rather than the direct effects of grazing. These results emphasize the importance of crop management strategies in the control of A. tosichella.     

Similarity in structure and function of the 3′-terminal region of the four brome mosaic viral RNAs

A 3′-terminal fragment, about 160 nucleotides long, was cleaved by limited nuclease digestion from each of the four RNA components of brome mosaic virus, and purified by two cycles of gel electrophoresis. These fragments accepted tyrosine in reactions catalyzed by wheat germ aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase. Analyses of nuclease digests suggested that the sequences of the fragments from brome mosaic virus RNA 3 and 4 were identical and that the fragments from RNA 1 and 2 differed from that of RNA 4 only in the positions of two and one nucleotides, respectively. A fragment isolated in a similar way from cowpea chlorotic mottle virus was similar in size to the brome mosaic virus RNA fragments, accepted tyrosine in the presence of wheat germ aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase, but had a substantially different nucleotide sequence.     

Homology between the proteins encoded by tobacco mosaic virus and two tricornaviruses

Summary A comparison was made of the amino acid sequences of the proteins encoded by RNAs 1 and 2 of alfalfa mosaic virus (A1MV) and brome mosaic virus (BMV), and the 126K and 183K proteins encoded by tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). Three blocks of extensive homology of about 200 to 350 amino acids each were observed. Two of these blocks are located in the A1MV and BMV RNA 1 encoded proteins and the TMV encoded 126K protein; they are situated at the N-terminus and C-terminus, respectively. The third block is located in the A1MV and BMV RNA 2 encoded proteins and the C-terminal part of the TMV encoded 183K protein. These homologies are discussed with respect to the functional equivalence of these putative replicase proteins and a possible evolutionary connection between A1MV, BMV and TMV.     

Translation of the RNAs of brome mosaic virus: The monocistronic nature of RNA1 and RNA2

Each of the two largest brome mosaic virus RNAs, RNA1 and RNA2, directs the synthesis of a large protein in cell-free extracts derived from wheat embryo. The size of each protein represents the translation of almost the entire length of the corresponding RNA. It was shown previously that brome mosaic virus RNA4 directs the synthesis of the coat protein and that brome mosaic virus RNA3, although it also contains the coat protein cistron, is translated mostly into a single product unrelated to the coat protein (Shih & Kaesberg, 1973). Thus, the brome mosaic virus genome encodes a total of four proteins.     

Structure of the RNA in tobacco mosaic virus

A model of the RNA of tobacco mosaic virus has been built using computer model-building techniques. The model has good stereochemistry, and fits the electron density map of the virus obtained by fiber diffraction methods considerably better than did earlier models. The three sugar rings in the asymmetric unit all have the A (3′-endo) conformation, One of the bases is in the syn conformation, a conformation observed only rarely in nucleic acid structures.     

Evolutionary relationship of alfalfa mosaic virus with cucumber mosaic virus and brome mosaic virus

The amino acid sequences of the non-structural protein (molecular weight 35,000; 3a protein) from three plant viruses — cucumber mosaic, brome mosaic and alfalfa mosaic have been systematically compared using the partial genomic sequences for these three viruses already available. The 3a protein of cucumber mosaic virus has an amino acid sequence homology of 33.7% with the corresponding protein of brome mosaic virus. A similar protein from alfalfa mosaic virus has a homology of 18.2% and 14.2% with the protein from brome mosaic virus and cucumber mosaic virus, respectively. These results suggest that the three plant viruses are evolutionarily related, although, the evolutionary distance between alfalfa mosaic virus and cucumber mosaic virus or brome mosaic virus is much larger than the corresponding distance between the latter two viruses.     

西瓜花叶病毒中国分离株全基因组核苷酸序列测定

西瓜花叶病毒(Watermelon mosaic virus,WMV)是马铃薯Y病毒属(Potyvirus)成员,主要危害西瓜和甜瓜,引起花叶病。在田间,该病害主要由蚜虫以非持久性方式传播。西瓜和甜瓜花叶病在国内陕西、山东、云南、辽宁、山西、新疆、河南和黑龙江等地广泛发生[1-6]。从20世纪80年代中期开始发生,逐渐上升为普遍发生的主要病害。我国大部分地区因西瓜和甜瓜病毒病造成的损失为30%~50%,甚至会绝产,西瓜花叶病毒已经成为制约西瓜和甜瓜高产稳产最主要的因素之一[7]。到目前为止,多数工作集中在对西瓜和甜瓜病毒病的鉴定,在分子生物学上仅限于对CP基因…     

Wheat yellow mosaic virus NIb targets TaVTC2 to elicit broad-spectrum pathogen resistance in wheat

GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase (VTC2) catalyses the conversion of GDP-L-galactose to L-galactose-1-P, a vital step of ascorbic acid (AsA) biosynthesis in plants. AsA is well known for its function in the amelioration of oxidative stress caused by most pathogen infection, but its function against viral infection remains unclear. Here, we have identified a VTC2 gene in wheat named as TaVTC2 and investigated its function in association with the wheat yellow mosaic virus (WYMV) infection. Our results showed that overexpression of TaVTC2 significantly increased viral accumulation, whereas knocking down TaVTC2 inhibited the viral infection in wheat, suggesting a positive regulation on viral infection by TaVTC2. Moreover, less AsA was produced in TaVTC2 knocking down plants (TaVTC2-RNAi) which due to the reduction in TaVTC2 expression and subsequently in TaVTC2 activity, resulting in a reactive oxygen species (ROS) burst in leaves. Furthermore, the enhanced WYMV resistance in TaVTC2-RNAi plants was diminished by exogenously applied AsA. We further demonstrated that WYMV NIb directly bound to TaVTC2 and inhibited TaVTC2 enzymatic activity in vitro. The effect of TaVTC2 on ROS scavenge was suppressed by NIb in a dosage-dependent manner, indicating the ROS scavenging was highly regulated by the interaction of TaVTC2 with NIb. Furthermore, TaVTC2 RNAi plants conferred broad-spectrum disease resistance. Therefore, the data indicate that TaVTC2 recruits WYMV NIb to down-regulate its own enzymatic activity, reducing AsA accumulation to elicit a burst of ROS which confers the resistance to WYMV infection. Thus, a new mechanism of the formation of plant innate immunity was proposed.     

Characterization of cymbidium mosaic virus coat protein gene and its expression in transgenic tobacco plants

Cymbidium mosaic virus (CyMV) is the most prevalent virus infecting orchids. Here, we report the isolation of partial cDNA clones encoding the genomic RNA of CyMV. Like most of the polyadenylated monopartite positive-strand RNA viruses, the open reading frame (ORF) coding for the viral coat protein (CP) is located at the 3 end. The ORF predicts a polypeptide chain of 220 amino acids with a molecular weight of 23 600. Sequence comparison of this ORF to the CP sequences of potato virus X(PVX) and white clover mosaic virus (WCIMV) revealed a strong amino acid homology in the mid-portion of the CP, but the overall homology was low. The CyMV CP gene was placed downstream of a cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter and the chimaeric gene was transferred into Nicotiana benthamiana. Transgenic plants expressing the CyMV CP were protected against CyMV infection.