Mungbean yellow mosaic virus-Vi Agroinfection by Codelivery of DNA A and DNA B From One Agrobacterium Strain

Molecular Epidemiology of Begomoviruses Infecting Mungbean from Yellow Mosaic Disease Hotspot Regions of India

The major threat to mungbean (Vigna radiata L.) cultivation in the Indian subcontinent is yellow mosaic diseases (YMD), caused by Begomovirus containing bipartite genomes (DNA-A and DNA-B). In the current study, we address the epidemiology of begomoviruses infecting mungbean plants in three YMD hotspot regions of India. Full-length genomic components of the viruses from the symptomatic leaves were cloned by rolling circle amplification (RCA) and sequenced. Mungbean yellow mosaic virus (MYMV) was detected in Bihar and mungbean yellow mosaic India virus (MYMIV) in Assam and Orissa. Furthermore, we studied the population structure and genetic diversity of MYMV and MYMIV isolates of Vigna species reported to date from India. Interestingly, based on phylogenetics, we observed independent evolution of DNA-A and coevolution of DNA-B of MYMV and MYMIV. This finding is supported by the high mutation rate and recombination events in DNA-B, particularly in BV1 and BC1 genes over DNA-A, with high transition/transversion bias (R) for DNA-A over DNA-B. To investigate the effect of Begomovirus infection in plants, we constructed infectious clones (i.e. MYMV and MYMIV) and inoculated them to eight mungbean genotypes, cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) and tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana) through agroinfiltration. The infected plants developed varying degrees of typical YMD symptoms. Based on the disease severity score and viral titre, mungbean genotypes were categorized as highly susceptible to MYMV (ML267) and MYMIV (K851) and immune to MYMV (PDM139, SML668) and MYMIV (Pusa Vishal). Conclusively, our findings may help prevent an epidemic of YMD in Vigna species and develop mungbean genotypes resistant to YMD via breeding programs.

Achieving maximum efficiency of Mungbean yellow mosaic India virus infection in mungbean by agroinoculation

Mungbean is one of the important food legumes in the Indian-sub-continent. Yellow mosaic disease, caused by Mungbean yellow mosaic virus and Mungbean yellow mosaic India virus (MYMIV) poses a severe threat to its production. Agroinoculation has been the most preferred way to test the function of genomic components of these viruses. However, the available inoculation methods are not as efficient as whitefly transmission, thereby limiting their usage for screening and biological studies. We hereby report an efficient and reproducible agroinoculation method for achieving maximum (100%) efficiency using tandem repeat infectious agro-constructs of DNA A and DNA B of MYMIV. The present study targeted wounding of various meristematic tissues of root, shoot, parts of germinating seeds and also non-meristematic tissue of stem to test the suitable tissue types for maximum infection. Among the various tissues selected for, the inoculation on the epicotyl region showed maximum infectivity. Further, to enhance the infectivity of MYMIV, different concentrations of acetosyringone, incubation time and Agrobacterium cell density were also standardized. The incubation of wounded sprouted seeds in 1.0 OD of agroculture containing repeat construct of MYMIV for 2-4 h without acetosyringone followed by sowing in soil showed maximum infection of MYMIV within 10-12 days on the first trifoliate leaf. This standardized method is reproducible and has potential to screen germplasm lines and will be useful in mungbean biological/virological studies and breeding programmes.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-021-03088-w.

Agrobacterium-mediated co-inoculation of okra plants with cloned okra enation leaf curl virus DNA and bhendi yellow vein mosaic beta-satellite DNA furthers Koch's postulates for enation leaf curl disease

The enation leaf curl disease (ELCuD) is one of the several viral diseases affecting the cultivation of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) in the Indian subcontinent. Several begomoviruses and satellites are associated with ELCuD. However, to date, there are no reports of the re-introduction of any cloned ELCuD-associated viral DNA back into okra to cause ELCuD-like symptoms. Okra enation leaf curl virus (OELCuV) and various satellites, which includes bhendi yellow vein mosaic beta-satellite (BYVMB) have earlier been reported to be associated with ELCuD and with other okra diseases such as bhendi yellow vein mosaic disease. In this report, it is shown that agrobacterium-mediated inoculation of a cloned DNA of OELCuV and BYVMB to the shoot apex of virus-free okra plants led to symptoms resembling ELCuD. The OELCuV and the BYVMB DNAs could be PCR- amplified from the symptomatic leaves of the agro-inoculated plants. Full-length OELCuV DNA could also be amplified from the same symptomatic leaves, part of whose DNA sequence matched with that of the DNA which was inoculated. Hence, this work is an important step towards the fulfilment of Koch's postulates for ELCuD.

V. R, Tripathi K, Kumar RR, Aski M, Singh A, Roy A, Priti, Kumari N, Dasgupta U, Kumar A, Praveen S, Nair RM. Corrigendum: Yellow Mosaic Disease (YMD) of Mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek): Current Status and Management Opportunities

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.00918.].

V. R, Tripathi K, Kumar RR, Aski M, Singh A, Roy A, Priti, Kumari N, Dasgupta U, Kumar A, Praveen S, Nair RM. Yellow Mosaic Disease (YMD) of Mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek): Current Status and Management Opportunities

Globally, yellow mosaic disease (YMD) remains a major constraint of mungbean production, and management of this deadly disease is still the biggest challenge. Thus, finding ways to manage YMD including development of varieties possessing resistance against mungbean yellow mosaic virus (MYMV) and mungbean yellow mosaic India virus (MYMIV) is a research priority for mungbean crop. Characterization of YMD resistance using various advanced molecular and biochemical approaches during plant-virus interactions has unfolded a comprehensive network of pathogen survival, disease severity, and the response of plants to pathogen attack, including mechanisms of YMD resistance in mungbean. The biggest challenge in YMD management is the effective utilization of an array of information gained so far, in an integrated manner for the development of genotypes having durable resistance against yellow mosaic virus (YMV) infection. In this backdrop, this review summarizes the role of various begomoviruses, its genomic components, and vector whiteflies, including cryptic species in the YMD expression. Also, information about the genetics of YMD in both mungbean and blackgram crops is comprehensively presented, as both the species are crossable, and same viral strains are also found affecting these crops. Also, implications of various management strategies including the use of resistance sources, the primary source of inoculums and vector management, wide-hybridization, mutation breeding, marker-assisted selection (MAS), and pathogen-derived resistance (PDR) are thoroughly discussed. Finally, the prospects of employing various powerful emerging tools like translational genomics, and gene editing using CRISPR/Cas9 are also highlighted to complete the YMD management perspective in mungbean.

S-acylation mediates Mungbean yellow mosaic virus AC4 localization to the plasma membrane and in turns gene silencing suppression

RNA silencing plays a critical role in plant resistance against viruses. To counteract host defense, plant viruses encode viral suppressors of RNA silencing (VSRs) that interfere with the cellular silencing machinery through various mechanisms not always well understood. We examined the role of Mungbean yellow mosaic virus (MYMV) AC4 and showed that it is essential for infectivity but not for virus replication. It acts as a determinant of pathogenicity and counteracts virus induced gene silencing by strongly suppressing the systemic phase of silencing whereas it does not interfere with local production of siRNA. We demonstrate the ability of AC4 to bind native 21-25 nt siRNAs in vitro by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. While most of the known VSRs have cytoplasmic localization, we observed that despite its hydrophilic nature and the absence of trans-membrane domain, MYMV AC4 specifically accumulates to the plasma membrane (PM). We show that AC4 binds to PM via S-palmitoylation, a process of post-translational modification regulating membrane-protein interactions, not known for plant viral protein before. When localized to the PM, AC4 strongly suppresses systemic silencing whereas its delocalization impairs VSR activity of the protein. We also show that AC4 interacts with the receptor-like kinase (RLK) BARELY ANY MERISTEM 1 (BAM1), a positive regulator of the cell-to-cell movement of RNAi. The absolute requirement of PM localization for direct silencing suppression activity of AC4 is novel and intriguing. We discuss a possible model of action: palmitoylated AC4 anchors to the PM by means of palmitate to acquire the optimal conformation to bind siRNAs, hinder their systemic movement and hence suppress the spread of the PTGS signal in the plant.

Emergence of a Latent Indian Cassava Mosaic Virus from Cassava Which Recovered from Infection by a Non-Persistent Sri Lankan Cassava Mosaic Virus

The major threat for cassava cultivation on the Indian subcontinent is cassava mosaic disease (CMD) caused by cassava mosaic geminiviruses which are bipartite begomoviruses with DNA A and DNA B components. Indian cassava mosaic virus (ICMV) and Sri Lankan cassava mosaic virus (SLCMV) cause CMD in India. Two isolates of SLCMV infected the cassava cultivar Sengutchi in the fields near Malappuram and Thiruvananthapuram cities of Kerala State, India. The Malappuram isolate was persistent when maintained in the Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India) greenhouse, whereas the Thiruvananthapuram isolate did not persist. The recovered cassava plants with the non-persistent SLCMV, which were maintained vegetative in quarantine in the University of Basel (Basel, Switzerland) greenhouse, displayed re-emergence of CMD after a six-month period. Interestingly, these plants did not carry SLCMV but carried ICMV. It is interpreted that the field-collected, SLCMV-infected cassava plants were co-infected with low levels of ICMV. The loss of SLCMV in recovered cassava plants, under greenhouse conditions, then facilitated the re-emergence of ICMV. The partial dimer clones of the persistent and non-persistent isolates of SLCMV and the re-emerged isolate of ICMV were infective in Nicotiana benthamiana upon agroinoculation. Studies on pseudo-recombination between SLCMV and ICMV in N. benthamiana provided evidence for trans-replication of ICMV DNA B by SLCMV DNA A.

Transgenic tobacco plants expressing siRNA targeted against the Mungbean yellow mosaic virus transcriptional activator protein gene efficiently block the viral DNA accumulation

Mungbean yellow mosaic virus (MYMV) is a bipartite begomovirus that infects many pulse crops such as blackgram, mungbean, mothbean, Frenchbean, and soybean. We tested the efficacy of the transgenically expressed intron-spliced hairpin RNA gene of the transcriptional activator protein (hpTrAP) in reducing MYMV DNA accumulation. Tobacco plants transformed with the MYMV hpTrAP gene accumulated 21-22 nt siRNA. Leaf discs of the transgenic plants, agroinoculated with the partial dimers of MYMV, displayed pronounced reduction in MYMV DNA accumulation. Thus, silencing of the TrAP gene, a suppressor of gene silencing, emerged as an effective strategy to control MYMV.

Differential soybean gene expression during early phase of infection with Mungbean yellow mosaic India virus

Mungbean yellow mosaic India virus (MYMIV), a bipartite begomovirus, causes yellow mosaic disease to soybean. Studies related to host gene expression in response to begomovirus infection have mostly been performed with systemically infected tissues at a later period of infection. In this study, soybean gene expression analysis has been performed to understand local responses against MYMIV at an early stage of infection before appearance of detectable limit of late viral transcripts. 444 soybean transcripts belonging to eleven functional categories showed significant changes in expression level at two days after infection. MYMIV infection resulted in enhanced expression of genes associated with hypersensitive response, programmed cell death and resistance response pathways and reduced expression of genes for photosynthesis and sugar transport. Comparative expression analysis of selected transcripts in the susceptible and a resistant variety displayed differential expression of host genes involved in intercellular virus movement and long distance signaling of systemic acquired resistance.

Mungbean yellow mosaic virus (MYMV) AC4 suppresses post-transcriptional gene silencing and an AC4 hairpin RNA gene reduces MYMV DNA accumulation in transgenic tobacco

Mungbean yellow mosaic virus (MYMV) is a legume-infecting geminivirus that causes yellow mosaic disease in blackgram, mungbean, soybean, Frenchbean and mothbean. AC4/C4, which is nested completely within the Rep gene, is less conserved among geminiviruses. Much less is known about its role in viral pathogenesis other than its known role in the suppression of host-mediated gene silencing. Transient expression of MYMV AC4 by agroinfiltration suppressed post-transcriptional gene silencing in Nicotiana benthamiana 16c expressing green fluorescence protein, at a level comparable to MYMV TrAP expression. AC4 full-length gene and an inverted repeat of AC4 (comprising the full-length AC4 sequence in sense and antisense orientations with an intervening intron) which makes a hairpin RNA (hpRNA) upon transcription were introduced into tobacco by Agrobacterium-mediated leaf disc transformation. Leaf discs of the transgenic plants were agroinoculated with partial dimers of MYMV and used to study the effect of the AC4-sense and AC4 hpRNA genes on MYMV DNA accumulation. Leaf discs of two transgenic plants that express the AC4-sense gene displayed an increase in MYMV DNA accumulation. Leaf discs of six transgenic plants containing the AC4 hpRNA gene accumulated small-interfering RNAs (siRNAs) specific to AC4, and upon agroinoculation with MYMV they exhibited a severe reduction in the accumulation of MYMV DNA. Thus, the MYMV AC4 hpRNA gene has emerged as a good candidate to engineer resistance against MYMV in susceptible plants.

Virus-induced gene silencing and its application in plant functional genomics

Virus-induced gene silencing is regarded as a powerful and efficient tool for the analysis of gene function in plants because it is simple, rapid and transformation-free. It has been used to perform both forward and reverse genetics to identify plant functional genes. Many viruses have been developed into virus-induced gene silencing vectors and gene functions involved in development, biotic and abiotic stresses, metabolism, and cellular signaling have been reported. In this review, we discuss the development and application of virus-induced gene silencing in plant functional genomics.

Antibegomoviral activity of the agrobacterial virulence protein VirE2

Mungbean yellow mosaic geminivirus (MYMV) causes severe yellow mosaic disease in blackgram, mungbean, Frenchbean, pigeonpea, soybean and mothbean. We attempted to induce resistance against this virus using the transcriptional activator protein gene deleted in the C-terminal activation domain (TrAP-∆AD) and Agrobacterium tumefaciens virE2. MYMV is known to replicate in agroinoculated tobacco leaf discs. Three transgenic tobacco plants which harboured a truncated MYMV transcriptional activator protein gene and two tobacco plants transformed with the octopine type A. tumefaciens virE2 gene were agroinoculated with an A. tumefaciens strain which harboured the partial dimers of both DNA A and DNA B of MYMV. The level of viral DNA accumulation in leaf discs of transgenic plants correlated inversely to the level of the MYMV TrAP-∆AD transcript. Two VirE2-transgenic plants, which complemented tumorigenesis of a virE2 mutant A. tumefaciens strain, effectively reduced MYMV DNA accumulation in the leaf disc agroinoculation assay.

Infectivity analysis of a blackgram isolate of Mungbean yellow mosaic virus and genetic assortment with MYMIV in selective hosts

Yellow mosaic disease in grain legumes in Indian subcontinent is caused by two important virus species viz. Mungbean yellow mosaic virus (MYMV) and Mungbean yellow mosaic India virus (MYMIV), belonging to the genus Begomovirus of the family Geminiviridae. The genomic components of a begomovirus causing yellow mosaic disease in blackgram in southern India were cloned and sequenced. Nucleotide sequence comparison of DNA A component shows the virus isolate to be a variant of Mungbean yellow mosaic virus:-(MYMV-[IN:Vam:05]). However, DNA B component of the present virus isolate has greater similarity (92%) to Mungbean yellow mosaic India virus. Agroinoculations of the viral clones produced typical yellow mosaic symptoms in blackgram and mungbean, severe leaf curl and stunting in French bean, similar to blackgram isolate of MYMIV. Blackgram isolates of both the virus species were only mildly infectious on cowpea, produced atypical leaf curl symptoms and not yellow or golden mosaic. In agroinoculations done by exchanging genomic components, symptom expression was seen only in French bean. In cowpea, blackgram and mungbean there was no visible symptoms though viral DNA could be detected by PCR.

Severe stunting in blackgram caused by the Mungbean yellow mosaic virus (MYMV) KA27 DNA B component is ameliorated by co-infection or post-infection with the KA22 DNA B: MYMV nuclear shuttle protein is the symptom determinant

Mungbean yellow mosaic virus-[India:Vigna] (MYMV-[IN:Vig]), a blackgram isolate of MYMV, has five variable and infective DNA B components of which KA22 and KA27 DNA Bs share only 72% nucleotide sequence identity between them. Agroinoculation of blackgram with partial dimers of DNA A and KA27 DNA B caused severe stunting and an inordinate delay in flowering. Interestingly, co-agroinoculation of KA27+KA22 DNA B components along with DNA A ameliorated severe stunting, rescued from the delay in flowering and caused the appearance of yellow mosaic symptom characteristic of KA22 DNA B. Post-agroinoculation of KA27 DNA B-infected blackgram plants with KA22 DNA B also resulted in the amelioration from severe stunting and in the alleviation from the delay in flowering. Alleviation from KA27 DNA B-type of symptom by co-infection or post-infection with KA22 DNA B did not result in a corresponding reduction in KA27 DNA B levels. Swapping of KA27 DNA B with the nuclear shuttle protein gene (NSP) of KA22 DNA B abolished severe stunting and caused the appearance of mild yellow symptom, suggesting that the NSP is the major symptom determinant in MYMV DNA B.

Soybean cultivar resistant to Mungbean Yellow Mosaic India Virus infection induces viral RNA degradation earlier than the susceptible cultivar

Yellow mosaic disease caused by whitefly-transmitted bipartite Geminiviruses is one of the major constraints on productivity of a number of pulse crops. We have cloned the bipartite genome of Mungbean Yellow Mosaic India Virus isolated from infected Soybean. We report here that agroinfection of Soybean seedlings with a single uncut recombinant binary plasmid containing tandem dimers of both DNA A and DNA B resulted in 100% infectivity in susceptible varieties. To understand the mechanism of natural resistance in a Soybean variety, we compared the abundance of the viral RNAs in a resistant and a susceptible variety at the early time points after agroinfection. Whilst the resistant variety displayed synthesis but rapid degradation of the early viral RNAs; the degradation in the susceptible variety was delayed resulting in accumulation of those transcripts later in infection. Accumulation of the late viral transcripts and DNA replication were detectable only in the susceptible variety. This indicates that rapid degradation of the early viral transcripts, possibly through siRNA mechanism, is one of the probable mechanisms of natural resistance against geminivirus.

Expression of full-length and truncated Rep genes from Mungbean yellow mosaic virus-Vigna inhibits viral replication in transgenic tobacco

Mungbean yellow mosaic virus-Vigna (MYMV-Vig) is a bipartite geminivirus that causes a severe yellow mosaic disease in blackgram. An assay was developed to study MYMV-Vig replication by agroinoculation of tobacco leaf discs with partial dimers of the virus. This assay, in a non-host model plant, was used to evaluate pathogen-derived resistance contributed by MYMV-Vig genes in transgenic plants. Viral DNA accumulation was optimum in tobacco leaf discs cultured for 10 days after infection with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain Ach5 containing partial dimers of both DNA A and DNA B of MYMV-Vig. Transgenic tobacco plants with MYMV-Vig genes for coat protein (CP), replication-associated protein (Rep)-sense, Rep-antisense, truncated Rep (T-Rep), nuclear shuttle protein (NSP) and movement protein (MP) were generated. Leaf discs from transgenic tobacco plants, harbouring MYMV-Vig genes, were agroinoculated with partial dimers of MYMV-Vig and analyzed for viral DNA accumulation. The leaf discs from transgenic tobacco plants harbouring CP and MP genes supported the accumulation of higher levels of MYMV-Vig DNA. However, MYMV-Vig accumulation was inhibited in one transgenic plant harbouring the Rep-sense gene and in two plants harbouring the T-Rep gene. Northern analysis of these plants revealed a good correlation between expression of Rep or T-Rep genes and inhibition of MYMV-Vig accumulation.

Factors contributing to deletion within Mungbean yellow mosaic virus partial dimers in binary vectors used for agroinoculation

Mungbean yellow mosaic virus-Vigna (MYMV) sequences cloned as partial dimers within the T-DNA of a binary vector were deleted at a high frequency upon conjugal mobilization from Escherichia coli into Agrobacterium tumefaciens. This deletion involving the genome-length viral DNA did not occur when the binary plasmid was inside E. coli and when the binary plasmid was introduced into Agrobacterium by electroporation. Deletions occurred in both DNA A and DNA B partial dimers. A minimum of 500-nt continuity on either side of the nonanucleotide in the duplicated common region is required for deletion. A. tumefaciens cells in which deletion was complete, grew as larger colonies reflecting a growth advantage. The small, slow-growing colonies eventually lost the genome-length viral sequences after a few more cycles of growth. Partial dimers in binary plasmids pGA472 and pBin19 with RK2 replicon underwent deletion while those in pPZP with pVS1 replicon did not undergo deletion. Deletion was observed in A. tumefaciens strains C58, A136, A348 and A281 with C58 chromosome background, but not in Ach5 and T37. Interestingly, deletion did not occur in A. tumefaciens strain AGL1 with a recA mutation in C58 chromosome, implying a clear role for recombination in deletion. These observations suggest the choice of Agrobacterium strains and binary vectors for agroinoculation of geminiviruses.

Infectivity analysis of two variable DNA B components of Mungbean yellow mosaic virus-Vigna in Vigna mungo and Vigna radiata

Mungbean yellow mosaic virus-Vigna (MYMV-Vig), a Begomovirus that causes yellow mosaic disease, was cloned from field-infected blackgram (Vigna mungo). One DNA A clone (KA30) and five different DNA B clones (KA21, KA22, KA27, KA28 and KA34) were obtained. The sequence identity in the 150-nt common region (CR) between DNA A and DNA B was highest (95%) for KA22 DNA B and lowest (85.6%) for KA27 DNA B. The Rep-binding domain had three complete 11-nt (5'-TGTATCGGTGT-3') iterons in KA22 DNA B (and KA21, KA28 and KA34), while the first iteron in KA27 DNA B (5'-ATCGGTGT-3') had a 3-nt deletion. KA27 DNA B, which exhibited 93.9% CR sequence identity to the mungbean-infecting MYMV, also shared the 3-nt deletion in the first iteron besides having an 18-nt insertion between the third iteron and the conserved nonanucleotide. MYMV was found to be closely related to KA27 DNA B in amino acid sequence identity of BV1 (94.1%) and BC1 (97.6%) proteins and in the organization of nuclear localization signal (NLS), nuclear export signal (NES) and phosphorylation sites. Agroinoculation of blackgram (V. mungo) and mungbean (V. radiata) with partial dimers of KA27 and KA22 DNA Bs along with DNA A caused distinctly different symptoms. KA22 DNA B caused more intense yellow mosaic symptoms with high viral DNA titre in blackgram. In contrast, KA27 DNA B caused more intense yellow mosaic symptoms with high viral DNA titre in mungbean. Thus, DNA B of MYMVVig is an important determinant of host-range between V. mungo and V. radiata.