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Jiao M, Yin Y, Tian Y, Lei J, Lin L, Wu J, Lu Y, Zheng H, Yan F, Wang J, Peng J. Adoption of the 2A Ribosomal Skip Principle to Track Assembled Virions of Pepper Mild Mottle Virus in Nicotiana benthamiana. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2024; 13:928. [PMID: 38611458 PMCID: PMC11013369 DOI: 10.3390/plants13070928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2024] [Revised: 03/11/2024] [Accepted: 03/20/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024]
Abstract
The coat protein (CP) is an important structural protein that plays many functional roles during the viral cycle. In this study, the CP of pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) was genetically fused to GFP using the foot-and-mouth disease virus peptide 2A linker peptide and the construct (PMMoV-GFP2A) was shown to be infectious. The systemic spread of the virus was monitored by its fluorescence in infected plants. Electron microscopy and immunocolloidal gold labelling confirmed that PMMoV-GFP2A forms rod-shaped particles on which GFP is displayed. Studies of tissue ultrastructure and virion self-assembly confirmed that PMMoV-GFP2A could be used to monitor the real-time dynamic changes of CP location during virus infection. Aggregations of GFP-tagged virions appeared as fluorescent plaques in confocal laser microscopy. Altogether, PMMoV-GFP2A is a useful tool for studying the spatial and temporal changes of PMMoV CP during viral infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengting Jiao
- State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agroproducts, Institute of Plant Virology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China; (M.J.); (Y.T.); (J.L.); (L.L.); (J.W.); (Y.L.); (H.Z.); (F.Y.)
- Key Laboratory of Biotechnology in Plant Protection of MARA and Zhejiang Province, Institute of Plant Virology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
- Biocontrol Engineering Research Center of Crop Disease & Pest of Yunnan Province, School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
| | - Yueyan Yin
- Institute of Biotechnology and Germplasm Resources, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Kunming 650223, China;
| | - Yanzhen Tian
- State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agroproducts, Institute of Plant Virology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China; (M.J.); (Y.T.); (J.L.); (L.L.); (J.W.); (Y.L.); (H.Z.); (F.Y.)
- Key Laboratory of Biotechnology in Plant Protection of MARA and Zhejiang Province, Institute of Plant Virology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
| | - Jianing Lei
- State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agroproducts, Institute of Plant Virology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China; (M.J.); (Y.T.); (J.L.); (L.L.); (J.W.); (Y.L.); (H.Z.); (F.Y.)
- Key Laboratory of Biotechnology in Plant Protection of MARA and Zhejiang Province, Institute of Plant Virology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
| | - Lin Lin
- State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agroproducts, Institute of Plant Virology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China; (M.J.); (Y.T.); (J.L.); (L.L.); (J.W.); (Y.L.); (H.Z.); (F.Y.)
- Key Laboratory of Biotechnology in Plant Protection of MARA and Zhejiang Province, Institute of Plant Virology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
| | - Jian Wu
- State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agroproducts, Institute of Plant Virology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China; (M.J.); (Y.T.); (J.L.); (L.L.); (J.W.); (Y.L.); (H.Z.); (F.Y.)
- Key Laboratory of Biotechnology in Plant Protection of MARA and Zhejiang Province, Institute of Plant Virology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
| | - Yuwen Lu
- State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agroproducts, Institute of Plant Virology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China; (M.J.); (Y.T.); (J.L.); (L.L.); (J.W.); (Y.L.); (H.Z.); (F.Y.)
- Key Laboratory of Biotechnology in Plant Protection of MARA and Zhejiang Province, Institute of Plant Virology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
| | - Hongying Zheng
- State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agroproducts, Institute of Plant Virology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China; (M.J.); (Y.T.); (J.L.); (L.L.); (J.W.); (Y.L.); (H.Z.); (F.Y.)
- Key Laboratory of Biotechnology in Plant Protection of MARA and Zhejiang Province, Institute of Plant Virology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
| | - Fei Yan
- State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agroproducts, Institute of Plant Virology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China; (M.J.); (Y.T.); (J.L.); (L.L.); (J.W.); (Y.L.); (H.Z.); (F.Y.)
- Key Laboratory of Biotechnology in Plant Protection of MARA and Zhejiang Province, Institute of Plant Virology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
| | - Jianguang Wang
- Biocontrol Engineering Research Center of Crop Disease & Pest of Yunnan Province, School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
| | - Jiejun Peng
- State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agroproducts, Institute of Plant Virology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China; (M.J.); (Y.T.); (J.L.); (L.L.); (J.W.); (Y.L.); (H.Z.); (F.Y.)
- Key Laboratory of Biotechnology in Plant Protection of MARA and Zhejiang Province, Institute of Plant Virology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
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A Chikungunya Virus Multiepitope Recombinant Protein Expressed from the Binary System Insect Cell/Recombinant Baculovirus Is Useful for Laboratorial Diagnosis of Chikungunya. Microorganisms 2022; 10:microorganisms10071451. [PMID: 35889170 PMCID: PMC9316945 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms10071451] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2022] [Accepted: 07/06/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an arbovirus currently distributed worldwide, causing a disease that shares clinical signs and symptoms with other illnesses, such as dengue and Zika and leading to a challenging clinical differential diagnosis. In Brazil, CHIKV emerged in 2014 with the simultaneous introduction of both Asian and East/Central/South African (ECSA) genotypes. Laboratorial diagnosis of CHIKV is mainly performed by molecular and serological assays, with the latter more widely used. Although many commercial kits are available, their costs are still high for many underdeveloped and developing countries where the virus circulates. Here we described the development and evaluation of a multi-epitope recombinant protein-based IgG-ELISA (MULTREC IgG-ELISA) test for the specific detection of anti-CHIKV antibodies in clinical samples, as an alternative approach for laboratorial diagnosis. The MULTREC IgG-ELISA showed 86.36% of sensitivity and 100% of specificity, and no cross-reactivity with other exanthematic diseases was observed. The recombinant protein was expressed from the binary system insect cell/baculovirus using the crystal-forming baculoviral protein polyhedrin as a carrier of the target recombinant protein to facilitate recovery. The crystals were at least 10 times smaller in size and had an amorphous shape when compared to the polyhedrin wild-type crystal. The assay uses a multi-epitope antigen, representing two replicates of 18 amino acid sequences from the E2 region and a sequence of 17 amino acids from the nsP3 region of CHIKV. The recombinant protein was highly expressed, easy to purify and has demonstrated its usefulness in confirming chikungunya exposure, indeed showing a good potential tool for epidemiological surveillance.
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Wieczorek P, Budziszewska M, Frąckowiak P, Obrępalska-Stęplowska A. Development of a New Tomato Torrado Virus-Based Vector Tagged with GFP for Monitoring Virus Movement in Plants. Viruses 2020; 12:v12101195. [PMID: 33092281 PMCID: PMC7588970 DOI: 10.3390/v12101195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2020] [Revised: 10/16/2020] [Accepted: 10/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged viruses are basic research tools widely applied in studies concerning molecular determinants of disease during virus infection. Here, we described a new generation of genetically stable infectious clones of tomato torrado virus isolate Kra (ToTVpJL-Kra) that could infect Nicotiana benthamiana and Solanum lycopersicum. Importantly, a modified variant of the viral RNA2—with inserted sGFP (forming, together with virus RNA1, into ToTVpJL-KraGFP)—was engineered as well. RNA2 of ToTVpJL-KraGFP was modified by introducing an additional open reading frame (ORF) of sGFP flanked with an amino acid-coding sequence corresponding to the putative virus protease recognition site. Our further analysis revealed that sGFP-tagged ToTV-Kra was successfully passaged by mechanical inoculation and spread systemically in plants. Therefore, the clone might be applied in studying the in vivo cellular, tissue, and organ-level localization of ToTV during infection. By performing whole-plant imaging, followed by fluorescence and confocal microscopy, the presence of the ToTVpJL-KraGFP-derived fluorescence signal was confirmed in infected plants. All this information was verified by sGFP-specific immunoprecipitation and western blot analysis. The molecular biology of the torradovirus-plant interaction is still poorly characterized; therefore, the results obtained here opened up new possibilities for further research. The application of sGFP-tagged virus infectious clones and their development method can be used for analyzing plant-virus interactions in a wide context of plant pathology.
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Lopes-Luz L, Junqueira IC, da Silveira LA, de Melo Pereira BR, da Silva LA, Ribeiro BM, Nagata T. Dengue and Zika virus multi-epitope antigen expression in insect cells. Mol Biol Rep 2020; 47:7333-7340. [PMID: 32997310 DOI: 10.1007/s11033-020-05772-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2020] [Accepted: 08/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Dengue virus and Zika virus are arthropod-borne flaviviruses that cause millions of infections worldwide. The co-circulation of both viruses makes serological diagnosis difficult as they share high amino acid similarities in viral proteins. Antigens are one of the key reagents in the differential diagnosis of these viruses through the detection of IgG antibodies in serological assays during the convalescent-phase of infections. Here, we report the expression of Dengue virus (DENV) and Zika virus (ZIKV) antigens containing non-conserved and immunodominant amino acid sequences using the baculovirus expression vector system in insect cells. We designed DENV and ZIKV antigens based on the domain III of the E protein (EDIII) after analyzing previously reported epitopes and by multiple alignment of the most important flaviviruses. The ZIKV and DENV multi-epitope genes were designed as tandem repeats or impaired repeats separated by tetra- or hexa-glycine linkers. The biochemical analyses revealed adequate expression of the antigens. Then, the obtained multi-epitope antigens were semi-purified in a sucrose gradient and tested using patients' sera collected during the convalescent-phase that were previously diagnosed positive for anti-DENV and -ZIKV IgG antibodies. The optimal serum dilution was 1:200, and the mean absorbance values in the preliminary tests show that multi-epitope antigens have been recognized by human sera. The production of both antigens using the multi-epitope strategy in the eukaryotic system and based on the EDIII regions provide a proof of concept for the use of antigens in the differentiation between DENV and ZIKV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonardo Lopes-Luz
- Campus Colemar Natal E Silva, Instituto de Patologia Tropical E Saúde Pública, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, GO, 74605-450, Brazil
| | - Isabela Cinquini Junqueira
- Faculdade de Farmácia, Campus Colemar Natal E Silva, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, GO, 74605-170, Brazil
| | - Lucimeire Antonelli da Silveira
- Campus Colemar Natal E Silva, Instituto de Patologia Tropical E Saúde Pública, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, GO, 74605-450, Brazil
| | | | - Leonardo Assis da Silva
- Departamento de Biologia Celular, Campus Darcy Ribeiro, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, DF, 70910-900, Brazil
| | - Bergmann Morais Ribeiro
- Departamento de Biologia Celular, Campus Darcy Ribeiro, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, DF, 70910-900, Brazil
| | - Tatsuya Nagata
- Departamento de Biologia Celular, Campus Darcy Ribeiro, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, DF, 70910-900, Brazil.
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Pasin F, Menzel W, Daròs J. Harnessed viruses in the age of metagenomics and synthetic biology: an update on infectious clone assembly and biotechnologies of plant viruses. PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL 2019; 17:1010-1026. [PMID: 30677208 PMCID: PMC6523588 DOI: 10.1111/pbi.13084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2018] [Revised: 12/09/2018] [Accepted: 01/15/2019] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Recent metagenomic studies have provided an unprecedented wealth of data, which are revolutionizing our understanding of virus diversity. A redrawn landscape highlights viruses as active players in the phytobiome, and surveys have uncovered their positive roles in environmental stress tolerance of plants. Viral infectious clones are key tools for functional characterization of known and newly identified viruses. Knowledge of viruses and their components has been instrumental for the development of modern plant molecular biology and biotechnology. In this review, we provide extensive guidelines built on current synthetic biology advances that streamline infectious clone assembly, thus lessening a major technical constraint of plant virology. The focus is on generation of infectious clones in binary T-DNA vectors, which are delivered efficiently to plants by Agrobacterium. We then summarize recent applications of plant viruses and explore emerging trends in microbiology, bacterial and human virology that, once translated to plant virology, could lead to the development of virus-based gene therapies for ad hoc engineering of plant traits. The systematic characterization of plant virus roles in the phytobiome and next-generation virus-based tools will be indispensable landmarks in the synthetic biology roadmap to better crops.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Pasin
- Agricultural Biotechnology Research CenterAcademia SinicaTaipeiTaiwan
| | - Wulf Menzel
- Leibniz Institute DSMZ‐German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell CulturesBraunschweigGermany
| | - José‐Antonio Daròs
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas‐Universitat Politècnica de València)ValenciaSpain
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