title: Virulence factors of geminivirus interact with MYC2 to subvert plant resistance and promote vector performance.
abstract: A pathogen may cause infected plants to promote the performance of its transmitting vector, which accelerates the spread of the pathogen. This positive effect of a pathogen on its vector via their shared host plant is termed indirect mutualism. For example, terpene biosynthesis is suppressed in begomovirus-infected plants, leading to reduced plant resistance and enhanced performance of the whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) that transmit these viruses. Although begomovirus-whitefly mutualism has been known, the underlying mechanism is still elusive. Here, we identified βC1 of Tomato yellow leaf curl China virus, a monopartite begomovirus, as the viral genetic factor that suppresses plant terpene biosynthesis. βC1 directly interacts with the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor MYC2 to compromise the activation of MYC2-regulated terpene synthase genes, thereby reducing whitefly resistance. MYC2 associates with the bipartite begomoviral protein BV1, suggesting that MYC2 is an evolutionarily conserved target of begomoviruses for the suppression of terpene-based resistance and the promotion of vector performance. Our findings describe how this viral pathogen regulates host plant metabolism to establish mutualism with its insect vector.
authors.affiliation: Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117604, Singapore.
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University, Wageningen 6700 EH, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Berhane T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Weldegergis
authors.affiliation: Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Plant Molecular Biology, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10065.
authors.forename: Choonkyun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117604, Singapore.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117604, Singapore State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Yanwei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Horticulture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors.forename: Hongmei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117604, Singapore.
authors.forename: ChuanSia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tee
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University, Wageningen 6700 EH, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Joop J A
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: van Loon
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University, Wageningen 6700 EH, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dicke
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Plant Molecular Biology, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10065.
authors.forename: Nam-Hai
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Chua
authors.affiliation: Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors.forename: Shu-Sheng
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117604, Singapore State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China jianye@im.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7741-4354
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ye
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051778:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D053898:Biosynthetic Pathways / Q000235:genetics; D060467:Disease Resistance / Q000235:genetics; D017791:Geminiviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D006430:Hemiptera / Q000502:physiology* / Q000821:virology; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000502:physiology / Q000821:virology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013729:Terpenes / Q000378:metabolism*; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology*; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D051778:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors; C473611:MYC2 protein, Arabidopsis; D013729:Terpenes; D037521:Virulence Factors