title: Virus-Induced Tubules: A Vehicle for Spread of Virions into Ovary Oocyte Cells of an Insect Vector.
abstract: Many arthropod-borne viruses are persistently propagated and transovarially transmitted by female insect vectors through eggs, but the mechanism remains poorly understood. Insect oocytes are surrounded by a layer of follicular cells, which are connected to the oocyte through actin-based microvilli. Here, we demonstrate that a plant reovirus, rice gall dwarf virus (RGDV), exploits virus-containing tubules composed of viral non-structural protein Pns11 to pass through actin-based junctions between follicular cells or through actin-based microvilli from follicular cells into oocyte of its leafhopper vectorRecilia dorsalis, thus overcoming transovarial transmission barriers. We further determine that the association of Pns11 tubules with actin-based cellular junctions or microvilli of the ovary is mediated by a specific interaction between Pns11 and actin. Interestingly, RGDV can replicate and assemble progeny virions in the oocyte cytoplasm. The destruction of the tubule assembly by RNA interference with synthesized double-stranded RNA targeting the Pns11 gene strongly inhibits transovarial transmission of RGDV by its vectors. For the first time, we show that a virus can exploit virus-induced tubule as a vehicle to overcome the transovarial transmission barrier by insect vectors.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ecological Pest Control for Fujian and Taiwan Crops, Institute of Plant Virology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Zhenfeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ecological Pest Control for Fujian and Taiwan Crops, Institute of Plant Virology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Qianzhuo
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ecological Pest Control for Fujian and Taiwan Crops, Institute of Plant Virology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jiajia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ecological Pest Control for Fujian and Taiwan Crops, Institute of Plant Virology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Chengcong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ecological Pest Control for Fujian and Taiwan Crops, Institute of Plant Virology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ecological Pest Control for Fujian and Taiwan Crops, Institute of Plant Virology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Hongyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ecological Pest Control for Fujian and Taiwan Crops, Institute of Plant Virology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ecological Pest Control for Fujian and Taiwan Crops, Institute of Plant Virology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Dongsheng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ecological Pest Control for Fujian and Taiwan Crops, Institute of Plant Virology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Taiyun
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wei
keywords: Pns11 tubules; follicular cells; insect vector; oocyte; ovary microvilli; plant reoviruses; rice gall dwarf virus; transovarial transmission