2. Coat Proteins (CP)
The CP, also known as the capsid protein, encapsidates and protects viral genomes from damage. Early expressed CPs function in disassembly of parental virions and have roles in assembly of progeny virions during the final infection steps. However, more and more evidence has shown that CPs of all plant viruses are multifunctional and have various roles during different replication stages, ranging from early to late events in the infection cycle. The diversity of these functions in different viral systems includes virus transmission by specific vectors, translation of viral RNA, regulation of intercellular and systemic movement of the virus, suppression of both post transcription gene silencing (PTGS) and transcription gene silencing (TGS), as well as determination of symptomatology and pathogenesis
[24][25]. Owing to their obvious importance, CPs were the first example of pathogen-derived transgene resistance in plants
[26]. In fact, CP encoded transgenic resistance provides an excellent solution to the global viral problems and provides an important venue for both basic and applied disease resistance breeding research and crop production
[27].
Compared to CP-mediated genetic resistance engineered within the last 30 plus years, CP-induced natural resistance has evolved over millions of years. The role of CPs in the activation of R gene-mediated host defenses has been extensively characterized. The CPs of Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), Tomato mosaic virus (ToMV), Tobacco mild green mosaic virus (TMGMV), Bell pepper mottle virus (BPeMV), Paprika mild mottle virus (PaMMV), Obuda pepper virus (ObPV), Pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV), Potato virus X (PVX) and Mungbean yellow mosaic virus (MYMV) each serve as Avr factors that elicit resistance controlled by cognate dominant R genes (Table 1).
Table 1. Plant virus avirulence (Avr) factor and cognate NB-LRR resistance genes.
Avr Gene |
Virus Species |
R Gene (Type) |
Host Plant |
Reference |
Coat Protein (CP) |
CP |
Potato virus X (PVX) |
Rx1 (CC-NBS-LRR) |
Solanum tuberosum |
[28][29] |
CP |
PVX |
Rx2 (CC-NBS-LRR) |
S. tuberosum |
[30] |
CP |
PVX |
Nx (locus) |
S. tuberosum |
[31] |
CP |
Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) |
N′ (CC-NBS-LRR) |
Nicotiana sylvestris |
[32][33][34] |
CP |
TMV, Tomato mosaic virus (ToMV), Tobacco mild green mosaic virus (TMGMV), Bell pepper mottle virus (BPeMV), Paprika mild mottle virus (PaMMV), Obuda pepper virus (ObPV), Pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV), Mungbean yellow mosaic virus (MYMV) |
L1-4 (CC-NBS-LRR) |
Capsicum annuum |
[35] |
CP |
MYMV |
CYR1 (CC-NBS-LRR) |
Vigna mungo |
[36] |
CP |
Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) |
RCY1 (CC-NB-LRR) |
Arabidopsis thaliana |
[37][38] |
P38 |
Turnip crinkle virus (TCV) |
HRT (CC-NB-LRR) |
A. thaliana |
[39][40] |
Replication-Related Protein |
Rep/C1 |
Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) |
Ty2 (CC-NB-LRR) |
S. habrochaites |
[41] |
p50 |
TMV |
N (TIR- NB-LRR) |
N. glutinosa |
[23][42] |
RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (NIb) |
Pepper mottle virus (PepMoV), Pepper severe mosaic virus (PepSMV), and Potato virus Y (PVY) |
Pvr4 (CC-NBS-LRR) |
C. annuum |
[43][44] |
2a |
CMV |
RT4-4 (TIR-NB-LRR) |
Phaseolus vulgaris |
[45] |
CMV |
Unknown |
Vigna unguiculata |
[46][47] |
Helicase (CI) |
Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) |
TurB01 (locus) TurB05 (locus) |
Brassica napus |
[48][49] |
Movement Protein (MP) |
NSm |
Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), Tomato chlorotic spot virus (TCSV), Groundnut ringspot virus (GRSV), Chrysanthemum stem necrosis virus (CSNV) and Impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV) |
Sw-5b (SD-CC-NB-LRR) |
S. peruvianum |
[50][51][52][53] |
NSm |
TSWV |
RTSW (locus) |
N. alata |
[54] |
30-KDa MP |
TMV, ToMV |
Tm-2 and Tm-2(2) (CC-NB-LRR) |
S.peruvianum |
[55] |
TGB1 |
Barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV) |
Bsr1 (CC-NB-LRR) |
Brachypodium distachyon |
[56] |
BV1 |
Bean dwarf mosaic virus (BDMV) |
PvVTT1 (TIR-NB-LRR) |
P. vulgaris |
[57][58][59] |
P1 |
Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) |
CAR1 (locus) |
A.thaliana |
[60] |
25-KDa MP |
PVX |
Nb (locus) |
S. tuberosum |
[61] |
RNA Silencing Suppressor (RSS) |
NSs |
TSWV |
Tsw (CC-NBS-LRR) |
C. annuum |
[43][62] |
P0 |
Cucurbit aphid-borne yellows virus (CABYV), Turnip yellows virus (TuYV) and Potato leafroll virus (PLRV) |
RPO1(locus) |
N. glutinosa |
[63] |
P0 |
Cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV) |
Cbd (locus) |
Gossypium hirsutum |
[64] |
Other Proteins |
P6 |
CaMV |
Unknown |
Datura stramonium and N. edwardsonii |
[22][65] |
P3 + HC-Pro |
Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) |
Rsv1 (CC-NBS-LRR) |
Glycine max |
[66] |
P3 |
TuMV |
TurB03 (locus) TurB04 (locus) |
B. napus |
[60][67][68] |
NIaPro or CP? |
PVY Potato Virus A (PVA) |
Rysto (TIR-NB-LRR) |
S. stoloniferum |
[69][70][71] |
TMV CP was identified as an Avr responsible for eliciting host ER responses during interactions with the
Nicotiana sylvestris N′ gene. Two groups independently found this property by analyzing a series of recombinant viruses between resistance-inducing (RI) and resistance-breaking (RB) strains
[72][32][33]. Subsequently systematic studies of CP amino acid substitutions have demonstrated that
N′-mediated recognition requires maintenance of the CP three-dimensional structure, either directly, or through specific structural motifs
[73][74]. The
N′ gene and its orthologues were recently cloned from
N. sylvestris and other TMV resistant
Nicotiana species and shown to encode CC-NB-LRR type proteins
[34][75]. Interestingly, a more recent study of phylogeny of the CP of tombusviruses indicated that CP representatives of the family could be divided into four clades. All tested CP members in two separate clades triggered an HR in
Nicotiana section
Alatae species
[76]. Moreover, a previous study had shown that several members of
Nicotiana section
Alatae carry functional
N′ orthologues
[75] and implied that
N′ and
N′ orthologues might have been inherited from a common ancestor followed by evolution to confer tobamovirus and tombusvirus resistance to
Nicotiana genus species. In pepper, a broadening spectrum of resistance to seven known pepper-infecting species of tobamoviruses (TMV, ToMV, TMGMV, BPeMV, PaMMV, ObPV and PMMoV) is conferred by the corresponding
localization (L) alleles
[35].
L gene alleles also encode CC-NB-LRR type resistance proteins with the ability to elicit resistance responses to different tobamoviral CP Avr effectors
[77][78]. Since both
N′ and its
Nicotiana orthologues and the
L alleles from pepper mediate resistance against tobamoviruses by recognizing the CP
[34][75], it seems that these genes have evolved from a common
Solanum ancestor. However, a resistance gene evolution assay indicates that the
L gene from pepper is not an
N′ orthologue, suggesting that tobamovirus resistances in pepper and
Nicotiana originated independently
[75]. Several
R genes within the same locus recognize different CP proteins from overlapping virus species indicating that the conserved R proteins are able to recognize similar structures but with an adapted spectrum. These results also support the idea that interactions between
L genes or
N′ orthologues and tobamovirus CPs serve as good systems for study the mechanisms and evolution of virus perception by plants.
Another representative study involves PVX CP-elicited ER mediated by the
Rx1 gene, which encodes a class of CC-NB-LRR R proteins in potato
[28]. Under virus-free conditions, intramolecular interactions between the CC domain and NB or LRR domains retain
Rx1 in an auto-inhibited (off) state
[79][80]. Upon PVX infection, Rx1 protein recognizes the PVX CP by leucine-rich repeat domain interactions that result in disruption of Rx1 intramolecular host interactions. However, PVX CP-induced ER by Rx1 does not involve natural cell death at the inoculation site, but instead suppresses virus replication per se, even in protoplast infections. In contrast,
RX1 does trigger an HR upon overexpression of the Avr PVX CP or under high PVX concentrations
[29]. An additional study has demonstrated that nuclear-cytosolic shuttling of CP-activated Rx1 mediated by Ran GTPase-activating protein 2 (RanGAP2) is required for PVX defenses
[81]. However, recent studies have shown that nuclear or cytosol restricted Rx1 variants cannot trigger ER or suppress the spread of virus infections, but can still induce an HR. Furthermore, perturbation of the nucleocytoplasmic distribution of
Rx1 leads to translational arrest of PVX CP transcripts and compromises extreme resistance against PVX
[82]. Thus, many mysteries still need to be addressed, e.g., how to explain the mutual regulation of the PVX CP and NLR activation and whether other important host factors are involved in ER and HR induction. Notably, another ER gene locus in potato,
Nx, also confers resistance to the PVX CP. However, ER by the
Rx1 gene is induced via interactions with PVX CP conserved amino acids (aa) 121–127, whereas the
Nx gene confers resistance to PVX through the recognition of PVX CP aa 62–78
[28][31][83].
In the
Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype Di-17,
Turnip crinkle virus (TCV) CP P38 functions as the Avr resistance determinant for the HRT CC-NB-LRR R protein
[39][84]. By use of natural mutant isolates and interaction region screening, the TCV P38
N terminus has been shown to be involved in eliciting resistance responses
[84][85]. Moreover, the TCV P38
N terminal nuclear localization domain is important for elicitation of host resistance responses and could be a key trigger for HRT-dependent resistance to TCV
[86]. In another
A. thaliana ecotype C24,
RCY1, which encodes a CC-NB-LRR class R protein, was isolated and identified as the first
R gene conferring resistance to
Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV)
[37]. The CMV genes involved in the
RCY1 Avr resistance response also mapped to the CP
[38]. Interestingly, both the
RCY1 and
HRT R genes belong to HRT/RPP8 gene family, and the
RCY1 locus in ecotype C24 were was found to be allelic to
HRT in Dijon-17. These functionally divergence genes therefore seem to have evolved via recombination of ancestral genes
[87]. More intriguingly, the CMV and TCV CPs, which lack sequence similarity, recognize the allelic
RCY1 and
HRT genes
[38][84]. Therefore, several possibilities have been presented; one possibility is that
RCY1 and
HRT are elicited by completely different ligands. Another possibility is that the single CPs of CMV and TCV, or their possible complexes with other host components (e.g., guardee or decoy factor) may have highly similar CP protein folding domains
[37].