Published in:
01-07-2017 | Brief Report
Characterization of siRNAs derived from cucumber mosaic virus in infected tobacco plants
Authors:
Yanhong Qiu, Yongjiang Zhang, Fan Hu, Shuifang Zhu
Published in:
Archives of Virology
|
Issue 7/2017
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Abstract
This study characterized the viral small interfering RNAs (vsiRNAs) from Nicotiana tabacum cv. Samsun infected with a cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) 2b-deficient mutant. Most vsiRNAs were 21 -22 nucleotides in length and the 5′-terminal ends were dominated by A and U, respectively. The observed vsiRNAs were heterogeneously distributed throughout the CMV genome; however, most of the vsiRNAs were derived from sense strands, as opposed to antisense strands. These results demonstrate the conserved and specific function of Dicer-like (DCL), Argonaute (AGO) and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RDR) proteins in tobacco. Finally, it was revealed that vsiRNAs target abundant host genes, indicating complex roles for CMV vsiRNAs during the development of symptoms.