RNA interference (RNAi), a major defense of plants against viruses, is based on the use of small RNA molecules (sRNAs) produced by the plant from double-stranded RNA. To escape RNAi, viruses use VSR (viral suppressor of RNAi) proteins, which inhibit various key steps in this process. This is the case of the P0 protein of Turnip Yellow Virus, which degrades the central effector of RNAi, the protein ARGONAUTE1 (AGO1). In a study published in May 2018 in The Plant Cell, Benoit Derrien, Marion Clavel and their collaborators identified an amino acid of AGO1 necessary for its recognition by P0. Moreover, they have uncovered the role of the uncharacterized domain in which this amino acid is found: to allow AGO1 to drop the passenger strand of the sRNA duplex and thus enable the constitution of a functional RISC complex
Reference : A suppressor screen for AGO1 degradation by the viral F-Box P0 protein uncovers a role for AGO DUF1785 in sRNA duplex unwinding
B Derrien, M Clavel, N Baumberger, T Iki, A Sarazin, T Hacquard, M R Ponce, V Ziegler-Graff, H Vaucheret, J L Micol, O Voinnet and P Genschik
The Plant Cell – Published May 2018. DOI
Contact : Pascal Genschik
