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Yu J, Zhao W, Chen X, Lu H, Xiao Y, Li Q, Luo L, Kang L, Cui F. A plant virus manipulates the long-winged morph of insect vectors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2315341121. [PMID: 38190519 PMCID: PMC10801844 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2315341121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Wing dimorphism of insect vectors is a determining factor for viral long-distance dispersal and large-area epidemics. Although plant viruses affect the wing plasticity of insect vectors, the potential underlying molecular mechanisms have seldom been investigated. Here, we found that a planthopper-vectored rice virus, rice stripe virus (RSV), specifically induces a long-winged morph in male insects. The analysis of field populations demonstrated that the long-winged ratios of male insects are closely associated with RSV infection regardless of viral titers. A planthopper-specific and testis-highly expressed gene, Encounter, was fortuitously found to play a key role in the RSV-induced long-winged morph. Encounter resembles malate dehydrogenase in the sequence, but it does not have corresponding enzymatic activity. Encounter is upregulated to affect male wing dimorphism at early larval stages. Encounter is closely connected with the insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling pathway as a downstream factor of Akt, of which the transcriptional level is activated in response to RSV infection, resulting in the elevated expression of Encounter. In addition, an RSV-derived small interfering RNA directly targets Encounter to enhance its expression. Our study reveals an unreported mechanism underlying the direct regulation by a plant virus of wing dimorphism in its insect vectors, providing the potential way for interrupting viral dispersal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinting Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100101, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100049, China
| | - Wan Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100101, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100049, China
| | - Xiaofang Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100101, China
| | - Hong Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100101, China
| | - Yan Xiao
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100101, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100049, China
| | - Qiong Li
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100101, China
| | - Lan Luo
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100101, China
| | - Le Kang
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100101, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100049, China
| | - Feng Cui
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100101, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100049, China
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Regulation of RNA Interference Pathways in the Insect Vector Laodelphax striatellus by Viral Proteins of Rice Stripe Virus. Viruses 2021; 13:v13081591. [PMID: 34452456 PMCID: PMC8402809 DOI: 10.3390/v13081591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2021] [Revised: 08/05/2021] [Accepted: 08/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
RNA interference (RNAi), especially the small interfering RNA (siRNA) and microRNA (miRNA) pathways, plays an important role in defending against viruses in plants and insects. However, how insect-transmitted phytoviruses regulate the RNAi-mediated antiviral response in vector insects has barely been uncovered. In this study, we explored the interaction between rice stripe virus (RSV) and the miRNA and siRNA pathways of the small brown planthopper, which is a vector insect. The transcript and protein levels of key genes in the two RNAi pathways did not change during the RSV infection process. When the expression of insect Ago1, Ago2, or Translin was silenced by the injection of double-stranded RNAs targeting these genes, viral replication was promoted with Ago2 silencing but inhibited with Translin silencing. Protein-protein binding assays showed that viral NS2 and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase interacted with insect Ago2 and Translin, respectively. When NS2 was knocked down, the transcript level of Ago2 increased and viral replication was inhibited. Therefore, viral NS2 behaved like an siRNA suppressor in vector insects. This protein-binding regulation of insect RNAi systems reflects a complicated and diverse coevolution of viruses with their vector insects.
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Zhao W, Yu J, Jiang F, Wang W, Kang L, Cui F. Coordination between terminal variation of the viral genome and insect microRNAs regulates rice stripe virus replication in insect vectors. PLoS Pathog 2021; 17:e1009424. [PMID: 33690727 PMCID: PMC7984632 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2021] [Revised: 03/22/2021] [Accepted: 02/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Maintenance of a balance between the levels of viral replication and selective pressure from the immune systems of insect vectors is one of the prerequisites for efficient transmission of insect-borne propagative phytoviruses. The mechanism regulating the adaptation of RNA viruses to insect vectors by genomic variation remains unknown. Our previous study demonstrated an extension of the 3’-untranslated terminal region (UTR) of two genomic segments of rice stripe virus (RSV). In the present study, a reverse genetic system for RSV in human cells and an insect vector, the small brown planthopper Laodelphax striatellus, was used to demonstrate that the 3’-terminal extensions suppressed viral replication in vector insects by inhibiting promoter activity due to structural interference with the panhandle structure formed by viral 3’- and 5’-UTRs. The extension sequence in the viral RNA1 segment was targeted by an endogenous insect microRNA, miR-263a, which decreased the inhibitory effect of the extension sequence on viral promoter activity. Surprisingly, the expression of miR-263a was negatively regulated by RSV infection. This elaborate coordination between terminal variation of the viral genome and endogenous insect microRNAs controls RSV replication in planthopper, thus reflecting a distinct strategy of adaptation of phytoviruses to insect vectors. Mutations frequently happen when insect-transmitted RNA viruses circulate between insect vectors and plant or mammalian hosts. However, the significance of these mutations for viral fitness in the two distinct organisms is poorly understood. We discovered that a high proportion of rice stripe virus (RSV) had terminally extended genomes when the virus infected insect vectors. In the present study, we found that the extension sequence suppressed viral replication in insect vectors by impairing a special structure formed by the two ends of the viral genomes. An endogenous insect small RNA was able to bind the extension sequence to relieve the inhibitory effect. However, the expression of this small RNA was reduced in the presence of RSV to ultimately maintain the inhibitory effect of the extension sequence. This elaborate coordination between virus and vector enables a limited level of RSV replication that does not produce serious damage to vectors, thus reflecting a distinct strategy of adaptation of insect-transmitted plant viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wan Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Biotic Interactions, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jinting Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Biotic Interactions, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Feng Jiang
- CAS Center for Excellence in Biotic Interactions, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Beijing Institutes of Life Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Wei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Le Kang
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Biotic Interactions, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Beijing Institutes of Life Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Feng Cui
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Biotic Interactions, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- * E-mail:
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Affiliation(s)
- Gary Brewer
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ, United States.
| | - Mei-Ling Li
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ, United States
| | - Blanton S Tolbert
- Department of Chemistry, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States.
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