Elucidating the viral movement: the role of ADV-P3 protein

JAIME, CL.; SGRO G.; GIECO JO.; FARAH C.; DUNGER G.

Congreso; Congreso Conjunto SAIB-SAMIGE 2020; 2020

SAIB-SAMIGE

Also known as the Queen of Forages, alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is a perennial legume rich in minerals and vitamins. Argentina is one of the main world producers of alfalfa, with around 4 million hectares cultivated. This reflects the importance of this crop for our economy, being mainly used for dairy cattle feeding and in the production of feed for other animals. An important disease is dwarfism, which is caused by infection with different viruses, among them the alfalfa dwarf virus (ADV). It has a prevalence of more than 70% and causes losses of approximately 30% in production due to the dwarf phenotype of the infected plants, which show shortened internodes, leaf puckering and enations on the leaf surface. ADV belongs to the family Rhabdoviridae and has been grouped in the genus Cytorhabdovirus. The negative-sense, single stranded RNA genome of this virus contains 14491 nucleotides and encodes 7 proteins: nucleocapsid protein (N), phosphoprotein (P), movement protein (P3), matrix protein (M), glycoprotein (G) and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (L).It is well known that most plant viruses use movement proteins (MPs) targeting plasmodesmata to enable the cell-to-cell spread and systemic infection. Using yeast two-hybrid assays, we identified the alfalfa target of the viral P3 protein. We are currently purifying the two proteins to confirm the interaction via in vivo protein-protein interaction assays. We also used in silico analysis to predict the contact zones between the two proteins.These results will facilitate the development of biotechnological strategies to prevent ADV circulation in this economically important crop.