title: Assembly of viroplasms by viral nonstructural protein Pns9 is essential for persistent infection of rice gall dwarf virus in its insect vector.
abstract: Rice gall dwarf virus (RGDV), a plant reovirus, is transmitted by leafhopper vector Recilia dorsalis in a persistent-propagative manner. In a sequential study of RGDV infection of its insect vector, the virus initially infected the filter chamber epithelium, then directly crossed the basal lamina into the visceral muscles, from where it spread throughout the entire midgut and hindgut. Finally, RGDV spread into the salivary glands. During RGDV infection of the continuous cultured cells of R. dorsalis, viroplasm that was mainly comprised of viral nonstructural protein Pns9 was formed and acted as the site of viral replication and assembly of progeny virions. Knockdown of Pns9 expression in cultured insect vector cells using synthesized dsRNAs from the Pns9 gene strongly inhibited viroplasm formation and viral infection. The microinjection of dsRNAs from the Pns9 gene strongly abolished viroplasm formation in the initially infected filter chamber epithelium and prevented viral spread into leafhopper visceral muscles. These results indicated that the assembly of viroplasms was essential for the persistent infection and spread of RGDV in its insect vector.
authors.affiliation: Fujian Province Key Laboratory of Plant Virology, Institute of Plant Virology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, PR China.
authors.forename: Limin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Fujian Province Key Laboratory of Plant Virology, Institute of Plant Virology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, PR China.
authors.forename: Hongyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Fujian Province Key Laboratory of Plant Virology, Institute of Plant Virology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, PR China.
authors.forename: Huamin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Fujian Province Key Laboratory of Plant Virology, Institute of Plant Virology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, PR China. Electronic address: xielh@fjau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Lianhui
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Fujian Province Key Laboratory of Plant Virology, Institute of Plant Virology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, PR China. Electronic address: weitaiyun@fafu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Taiyun
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wei
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006430:Hemiptera / Q000821:virology; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000821:virology*; D034622:RNA Interference; D012087:Reoviridae / Q000502:physiology*; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D019065:Virus Assembly; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins
keywords: Leafhopper vector; Pns9 protein; RNA interference; Rice gall dwarf virus; Viral infection route; Viroplasm formation