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Ortolá B, Daròs JA. Viroids: Non-Coding Circular RNAs Able to Autonomously Replicate and Infect Higher Plants. BIOLOGY 2023; 12:biology12020172. [PMID: 36829451 PMCID: PMC9952643 DOI: 10.3390/biology12020172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2022] [Revised: 01/16/2023] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Viroids are a unique type of infectious agent, exclusively composed of a relatively small (246-430 nt), highly base-paired, circular, non-coding RNA. Despite the small size and non-coding nature, the more-than-thirty currently known viroid species infectious of higher plants are able to autonomously replicate and move systemically through the host, thereby inducing disease in some plants. After recalling viroid discovery back in the late 60s and early 70s of last century and discussing current hypotheses about their evolutionary origin, this article reviews our current knowledge about these peculiar infectious agents. We describe the highly base-paired viroid molecules that fold in rod-like or branched structures and viroid taxonomic classification in two families, Pospiviroidae and Avsunviroidae, likely gathering nuclear and chloroplastic viroids, respectively. We review current knowledge about viroid replication through RNA-to-RNA rolling-circle mechanisms in which host factors, notably RNA transporters, RNA polymerases, RNases, and RNA ligases, are involved. Systemic movement through the infected plant, plant-to-plant transmission and host range are also discussed. Finally, we focus on the mechanisms of viroid pathogenesis, in which RNA silencing has acquired remarkable importance, and also for the initiation of potential biotechnological applications of viroid molecules.
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Marquez‐Molins J, Hernandez‐Azurdia AG, Urrutia‐Perez M, Pallas V, Gomez G. A circular RNA vector for targeted plant gene silencing based on an asymptomatic viroid. THE PLANT JOURNAL : FOR CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2022; 112:284-293. [PMID: 35916236 PMCID: PMC9804161 DOI: 10.1111/tpj.15929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2022] [Revised: 07/27/2022] [Accepted: 07/29/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Gene silencing for functional studies in plants has been largely facilitated by manipulating viral genomes with inserts from host genes to trigger virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) against the corresponding mRNAs. However, viral genomes encode multiple proteins and can disrupt plant homeostasis by interfering with endogenous cell mechanisms. To try to circumvent this functional limitation, we have developed a silencing method based on the minimal autonomously-infectious nucleic acids currently known: viroids, which lack proven coding capability. The genome of Eggplant latent viroid, an asymptomatic viroid, was manipulated with insertions ranging between 21 and 42 nucleotides. Our results show that, although larger insertions might be tolerated, the maintenance of the secondary structure appears to be critical for viroid genome stability. Remarkably, these modified ELVd molecules are able to induce systemic infection promoting the silencing of target genes in eggplant. Inspired by the design of artificial microRNAs, we have developed a simple and standardized procedure to generate stable insertions into the ELVd genome capable of silencing a specific target gene. Analogously to VIGS, we have termed our approach viroid-induced gene silencing, and demonstrate that it is a promising tool for dissecting gene functions in eggplant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joan Marquez‐Molins
- Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio)Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) ‐ Universitat de València (UV)Parc Científic, Cat. Agustín Escardino 946980PaternaSpain
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP)Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) ‐ Universitat Politècnica de ValènciaCPI 8E, Av. de los Naranjos s/n46022ValenciaSpain
| | - Andrea Gabriela Hernandez‐Azurdia
- Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio)Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) ‐ Universitat de València (UV)Parc Científic, Cat. Agustín Escardino 946980PaternaSpain
| | - María Urrutia‐Perez
- Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio)Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) ‐ Universitat de València (UV)Parc Científic, Cat. Agustín Escardino 946980PaternaSpain
| | - Vicente Pallas
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP)Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) ‐ Universitat Politècnica de ValènciaCPI 8E, Av. de los Naranjos s/n46022ValenciaSpain
| | - Gustavo Gomez
- Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio)Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) ‐ Universitat de València (UV)Parc Científic, Cat. Agustín Escardino 946980PaternaSpain
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Cordero T, Ortolá B, Daròs JA. Mutational Analysis of Eggplant Latent Viroid RNA Circularization by the Eggplant tRNA Ligase in Escherichia coli. Front Microbiol 2018; 9:635. [PMID: 29675002 PMCID: PMC5895719 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.00635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2017] [Accepted: 03/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Eggplant latent viroid (ELVd) is a relatively small non-coding circular RNA that induces asymptomatic infections in eggplants (Solanum melongena L.). Like other viroid species that belong to the family Avsunviroidae, ELVd contains hammerhead ribozymes in the strands of both polarities that self-cleave RNAs producing terminal 5'-hydroxyl and 2',3'-cyclic phosphodiester groups. Available experimental data indicate that ELVd replicates in the chloroplasts of infected cells through a symmetric rolling-circle mechanism, in which RNA circularization is catalyzed by the chloroplastic isoform of the tRNA ligase. In this work, a mutational analysis was performed to gain insight into the sequence and structural requirements of the tRNA ligase-mediated circularization of ELVd RNAs. In the predicted minimum free energy conformation of the monomeric linear ELVd RNA intermediate of plus (+) polarity, the ligation site is located in the lower part of an opened internal loop, which is present in a quasi-rod-like structure that occupies the center of the molecule. The mutations analyzed herein consisted of punctual nucleotide substitutions and deletions surrounding the ligation site on the upper and lower strands of the ELVd quasi-double-stranded structure. Computational predictions of the mutated ELVd conformations indicated different degrees of distortions compared to the minimum free energy conformation of the wild-type ELVd linear monomer of + polarity. When these mutant RNAs were expressed in Escherichia coli, they were all circularized by the eggplant tRNA ligase with approximately the same efficiency as the wild-type ELVd, except for those that directly affected the ribozyme domain. These results suggest that the viroid ribozyme domains, in addition to self-cleavage, are also involved in the tRNA ligase-mediated circularization of the monomeric linear replication intermediates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Cordero
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universitat Politècnica de València), Valencia, Spain
| | - Beltrán Ortolá
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universitat Politècnica de València), Valencia, Spain
| | - José-Antonio Daròs
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universitat Politècnica de València), Valencia, Spain
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Daròs JA, Aragonés V, Cordero T. A viroid-derived system to produce large amounts of recombinant RNA in Escherichia coli. Sci Rep 2018; 8:1904. [PMID: 29382906 PMCID: PMC5789856 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-20314-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2017] [Accepted: 01/17/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Viruses have been engineered into useful biotechnological tools for gene therapy or to induce the synthesis of products of interest, such as therapeutic proteins and vaccines, in animal and fungal cells, bacteria or plants. Viroids are a particular class of infectious agents of higher plants that exclusively consist of a small non-protein-coding circular RNA molecule. In the same way as viruses have been transformed into useful biotechnological devices, can viroids be converted into beneficial tools? We show herein that, by expressing Eggplant latent viroid (ELVd) derived RNAs in Escherichia coli together with the eggplant tRNA ligase, this being the enzyme involved in viroid circularization in the infected plant, RNAs of interest like aptamers, extended hairpins, or other structured RNAs are produced in amounts of tens of milligrams per liter of culture. Although ELVd fails to replicate in E. coli, ELVd precursors self-cleave through the embedded hammerhead ribozymes and the resulting monomers are, in part, circularized by the co-expressed enzyme. The mature viroid forms and the protein likely form a ribonucleoprotein complex that transitorily accumulates in E. coli cells at extraordinarily amounts.
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Affiliation(s)
- José-Antonio Daròs
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universitat Politècnica de València), 46022, Valencia, Spain.
| | - Verónica Aragonés
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universitat Politècnica de València), 46022, Valencia, Spain
| | - Teresa Cordero
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universitat Politècnica de València), 46022, Valencia, Spain
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López-Carrasco A, Gago-Zachert S, Mileti G, Minoia S, Flores R, Delgado S. The transcription initiation sites of eggplant latent viroid strands map within distinct motifs in their in vivo RNA conformations. RNA Biol 2016; 13:83-97. [PMID: 26618399 DOI: 10.1080/15476286.2015.1119365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Eggplant latent viroid (ELVd), like other members of family Avsunviroidae, replicates in plastids through a symmetric rolling-circle mechanism in which elongation of RNA strands is most likely catalyzed by a nuclear-encoded polymerase (NEP) translocated to plastids. Here we have addressed where NEP initiates transcription of viroid strands. Because this step is presumably directed by sequence/structural motifs, we have previously determined the conformation of the monomeric linear (+) and (-) RNAs of ELVd resulting from hammerhead-mediated self-cleavage. In silico predictions with 3 softwares led to similar bifurcated conformations for both ELVd strands. In vitro examination by non-denaturing PAGE showed that they migrate as prominent single bands, with the ELVd (+) RNA displaying a more compact conformation as revealed by its faster electrophoretic mobility. In vitro SHAPE analysis corroborated the ELVd conformations derived from thermodynamics-based predictions in silico. Moreover, sequence analysis of 94 full-length natural ELVd variants disclosed co-variations, and mutations converting canonical into wobble pairs or vice versa, which confirmed in vivo most of the stems predicted in silico and in vitro, and additionally helped to introduce minor structural refinements. Therefore, results from the 3 experimental approaches were essentially consistent among themselves. Application to RNA preparations from ELVd-infected tissue of RNA ligase-mediated rapid amplification of cDNA ends, combined with pretreatments to modify the 5' ends of viroid strands, mapped the transcription initiation sites of ELVd (+) and (-) strands in vivo at different sequence/structural motifs, in contrast with the situation previously observed in 2 other members of the family Avsunviroidae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amparo López-Carrasco
- a Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), Universidad Politécnica de Valencia-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas , Valencia , Spain
| | - Selma Gago-Zachert
- b Department of Molecular Signal Processing , Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry , Halle ( Saale ), Germany
| | - Giuseppe Mileti
- a Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), Universidad Politécnica de Valencia-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas , Valencia , Spain
| | - Sofia Minoia
- a Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), Universidad Politécnica de Valencia-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas , Valencia , Spain
| | - Ricardo Flores
- a Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), Universidad Politécnica de Valencia-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas , Valencia , Spain
| | - Sonia Delgado
- a Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), Universidad Politécnica de Valencia-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas , Valencia , Spain
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Daròs JA. Eggplant latent viroid: a friendly experimental system in the family Avsunviroidae. MOLECULAR PLANT PATHOLOGY 2016; 17:1170-7. [PMID: 26696449 PMCID: PMC6638527 DOI: 10.1111/mpp.12358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2015] [Revised: 11/24/2015] [Accepted: 12/10/2015] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
TAXONOMY Eggplant latent viroid (ELVd) is the only species of the genus Elaviroid (family Avsunviroidae). All the viroids in the family Avsunviroidae contain hammerhead ribozymes in the strands of both polarities, and are considered to replicate in the chloroplasts of infected cells. This family includes two other genera: Avsunviroid and Pelamoviroid. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES ELVd consists of a single-stranded, circular, non-coding RNA of 332-335 nucleotides that folds in a branched quasi-rod-like minimum free-energy conformation. RNAs of complementary polarity exist in infected cells and are considered to be replication intermediates. Plus (+) polarity is assigned arbitrarily to the strand that accumulates at a higher concentration in infected tissues. HOST: To date, ELVd has only been shown to infect eggplant (Solanum melongena L.), the species in which it was discovered. A very narrow host range seems to be a common property in members of the family Avsunviroidae. SYMPTOMS ELVd infections of eggplants are apparently symptomless. TRANSMISSION ELVd is transmitted mechanically and by seed. USEFUL WEBSITE http://subviral.med.uottawa.ca.
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Affiliation(s)
- José-Antonio Daròs
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universidad Politécnica de Valencia), Avenida de los Naranjos s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain.
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Gago-Zachert S. Viroids, infectious long non-coding RNAs with autonomous replication. Virus Res 2015; 212:12-24. [PMID: 26319312 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2015.08.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2015] [Revised: 08/20/2015] [Accepted: 08/22/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Transcriptome deep-sequencing studies performed during the last years confirmed that the vast majority of the RNAs transcribed in higher organisms correspond to several types of non-coding RNAs including long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). The study of lncRNAs and the identification of their functions, is still an emerging field in plants but the characterization of some of them indicate that they play an important role in crucial regulatory processes like flowering regulation, and responses to abiotic stress and plant hormones. A second group of lncRNAs present in plants is formed by viroids, exogenous infectious subviral plant pathogens well known since many years. Viroids are composed of circular RNA genomes without protein-coding capacity and subvert enzymatic activities of their hosts to complete its own biological cycle. Different aspects of viroid biology and viroid-host interactions have been elucidated in the last years and some of them are the main topic of this review together with the analysis of the state-of-the-art about the growing field of endogenous lncRNAs in plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Selma Gago-Zachert
- Department of Molecular Signal Processing, Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany.
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Petrzik K, Vondrák J, Kvíderová J, Lukavský J. Platinum anniversary: virus and lichen alga together more than 70 years. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0120768. [PMID: 25789995 PMCID: PMC4366220 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0120768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2014] [Accepted: 02/07/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Trebouxia aggregata (Archibald) Gärtner (phylum Chlorophyta, family Trebouxiaceae), a lichen symbiotic alga, has been identified as host of the well-known herbaceous plant virus Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV, family Caulimoviridae). The alga had been isolated from Xanthoria parietina more than 70 years ago and has been maintained in a collection since that time. The CaMV detected in this collection entry has now been completely sequenced. The virus from T. aggregata is mechanically transmissible to a herbaceous host and induces disease symptoms there. Its genome differs by 173 nt from the closest European CaMV-D/H isolate from cauliflower. No site under positive selection was found on the CaMV genome from T. aggregata. We therefore assume that the virus's presence in this alga was not sufficiently long to fix any specific changes in its genome. Apart from this symbiotic alga, CaMV capsid protein sequences were amplified from many other non-symbiotic algae species maintained in a collection (e.g., Oonephris obesa, Elliptochloris sp., Microthamnion kuetzingianum, Chlorella vulgaris, Pseudococcomyxa sp.). CaMV-free Chlorella vulgaris was treated with CaMV to establish virus infection. The virus was still detected there after five passages. The virus infection is morphologically symptomless on Chlorella algae and the photosynthesis activity is slightly decreased in comparison to CaMV-free alga culture. This is the first proof as to the natural presence of CaMV in algae and the first demonstration of algae being artificially infected with this virus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karel Petrzik
- Department of Plant Virology, Institute of Plant Molecular Biology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
- * E-mail:
| | - Jan Vondrák
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 1176, Praha 6, Suchdol, Czech Republic
| | - Jana Kvíderová
- Institute of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Třeboň, Czech Republic
| | - Jaromír Lukavský
- Institute of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Třeboň, Czech Republic
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Petkovic S, Müller S. RNA circularization strategies in vivo and in vitro. Nucleic Acids Res 2015; 43:2454-65. [PMID: 25662225 PMCID: PMC4344496 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkv045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 226] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2014] [Revised: 01/07/2015] [Accepted: 01/12/2015] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
In the plenitude of naturally occurring RNAs, circular RNAs (circRNAs) and their biological role were underestimated for years. However, circRNAs are ubiquitous in all domains of life, including eukaryotes, archaea, bacteria and viruses, where they can fulfill diverse biological functions. Some of those functions, as for example playing a role in the life cycle of viral and viroid genomes or in the maturation of tRNA genes, have been elucidated; other putative functions still remain elusive. Due to the resistance to exonucleases, circRNAs are promising tools for in vivo application as aptamers, trans-cleaving ribozymes or siRNAs. How are circRNAs generated in vivo and what approaches do exist to produce ring-shaped RNAs in vitro? In this review we illustrate the occurrence and mechanisms of RNA circularization in vivo, survey methods for the generation of circRNA in vitro and provide appropriate protocols.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonja Petkovic
- Institut für Biochemie, Ernst Moritz Arndt Universität Greifswald, Felix-Hausdorff-Str. 4, 17487 Greifswald, Germany
| | - Sabine Müller
- Institut für Biochemie, Ernst Moritz Arndt Universität Greifswald, Felix-Hausdorff-Str. 4, 17487 Greifswald, Germany
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Nohales MÁ, Flores R, Daròs JA. Viroid RNA redirects host DNA ligase 1 to act as an RNA ligase. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2012; 109:13805-10. [PMID: 22869737 PMCID: PMC3427106 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1206187109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Viroids are a unique class of noncoding RNAs: composed of only a circular, single-stranded molecule of 246-401 nt, they manage to replicate, move, circumvent host defenses, and frequently induce disease in higher plants. Viroids replicate through an RNA-to-RNA rolling-circle mechanism consisting of transcription of oligomeric viroid RNA intermediates, cleavage to unit-length strands, and circularization. Though the host RNA polymerase II (redirected to accept RNA templates) mediates RNA synthesis and a type-III RNase presumably cleavage of Potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd) and closely related members of the family Pospiviroidae, the host enzyme catalyzing the final circularization step, has remained elusive. In this study we propose that PSTVd subverts host DNA ligase 1, converting it to an RNA ligase, for the final step. To support this hypothesis, we show that the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) DNA ligase 1 specifically and efficiently catalyzes circularization of the genuine PSTVd monomeric linear replication intermediate opened at position G95-G96 and containing 5'-phosphomonoester and 3'-hydroxyl terminal groups. Moreover, we also show a decreased PSTVd accumulation and a reduced ratio of monomeric circular to total monomeric PSTVd forms in Nicotiana benthamiana Domin plants in which the endogenous DNA ligase 1 was silenced. Thus, in a remarkable example of parasitic strategy, viroids reprogram for their replication the template and substrate specificity of a DNA-dependent RNA polymerase and a DNA ligase to act as RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and RNA ligase, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- María-Ángeles Nohales
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, 46022 Valencia, Spain
| | - Ricardo Flores
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, 46022 Valencia, Spain
| | - José-Antonio Daròs
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, 46022 Valencia, Spain
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11
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Nohales MÁ, Molina-Serrano D, Flores R, Daròs JA. Involvement of the chloroplastic isoform of tRNA ligase in the replication of viroids belonging to the family Avsunviroidae. J Virol 2012; 86:8269-76. [PMID: 22623792 PMCID: PMC3421689 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.00629-12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2012] [Accepted: 05/15/2012] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Avocado sunblotch viroid, peach latent mosaic viroid, chrysanthemum chlorotic mottle viroid, and eggplant latent viroid (ELVd), the four recognized members of the family Avsunviroidae, replicate through the symmetric pathway of an RNA-to-RNA rolling-circle mechanism in chloroplasts of infected cells. Viroid oligomeric transcripts of both polarities contain embedded hammerhead ribozymes that, during replication, mediate their self-cleavage to monomeric-length RNAs with 5'-hydroxyl and 2',3'-phosphodiester termini that are subsequently circularized. We report that a recombinant version of the chloroplastic isoform of the tRNA ligase from eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) efficiently catalyzes in vitro circularization of the plus [(+)] and minus [(-)] monomeric linear replication intermediates from the four Avsunviroidae. We also show that while this RNA ligase specifically recognizes the genuine monomeric linear (+) ELVd replication intermediate, it does not do so with five other monomeric linear (+) ELVd RNAs with their ends mapping at different sites along the molecule, despite containing the same 5'-hydroxyl and 2',3'-phosphodiester terminal groups. Moreover, experiments involving transient expression of a dimeric (+) ELVd transcript in Nicotiana benthamiana Domin plants preinoculated with a tobacco rattle virus-derived vector to induce silencing of the plant endogenous tRNA ligase show a significant reduction of ELVd circularization. In contrast, circularization of a viroid replicating in the nucleus occurring through a different pathway is unaffected. Together, these results support the conclusion that the chloroplastic isoform of the plant tRNA ligase is the host enzyme mediating circularization of both (+) and (-) monomeric linear intermediates during replication of the viroids belonging to the family Avsunviroidae.
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Affiliation(s)
- María-Ángeles Nohales
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad Politécnica de Valencia), Valencia, Spain
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Gómez G, Pallás V. A pathogenic non coding RNA that replicates and accumulates in chloroplasts traffics to this organelle through a nuclear-dependent step. PLANT SIGNALING & BEHAVIOR 2012; 7:882-4. [PMID: 22751312 PMCID: PMC3583980 DOI: 10.4161/psb.20463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Viroids belonging to the family Avsunviroidae are the only functional RNAs known to traffic selectively into chloroplasts. Subcellular targeting is a critical step in guaranteeing their access to the machineries involved in their replication. However, the host mechanisms exploited by these non coding pathogenic RNAs to be selectively imported into chloroplasts are poorly understood. Recently, we provide evidence supporting the idea that the Avsunviroidae have evolved to subvert a signaling mechanism between the nucleus and chloroplasts to regulate their differential compartmentalization into the chloroplast of infected cells. Here, we discuss our model and previous observations that provide biological relevance to our hypothesis.
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Flores R, Serra P, Minoia S, Di Serio F, Navarro B. Viroids: from genotype to phenotype just relying on RNA sequence and structural motifs. Front Microbiol 2012; 3:217. [PMID: 22719735 PMCID: PMC3376415 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2012.00217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2012] [Accepted: 05/28/2012] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
As a consequence of two unique physical properties, small size and circularity, viroid RNAs do not code for proteins and thus depend on RNA sequence/structural motifs for interacting with host proteins that mediate their invasion, replication, spread, and circumvention of defensive barriers. Viroid genomes fold up on themselves adopting collapsed secondary structures wherein stretches of nucleotides stabilized by Watson–Crick pairs are flanked by apparently unstructured loops. However, compelling data show that they are instead stabilized by alternative non-canonical pairs and that specific loops in the rod-like secondary structure, characteristic of Potato spindle tuber viroid and most other members of the family Pospiviroidae, are critical for replication and systemic trafficking. In contrast, rather than folding into a rod-like secondary structure, most members of the family Avsunviroidae adopt multibranched conformations occasionally stabilized by kissing-loop interactions critical for viroid viability in vivo. Besides these most stable secondary structures, viroid RNAs alternatively adopt during replication transient metastable conformations containing elements of local higher-order structure, prominent among which are the hammerhead ribozymes catalyzing a key replicative step in the family Avsunviroidae, and certain conserved hairpins that also mediate replication steps in the family Pospiviroidae. Therefore, different RNA structures – either global or local – determine different functions, thus highlighting the need for in-depth structural studies on viroid RNAs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ricardo Flores
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (UPV-CSIC) Valencia, Spain
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14
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Gómez G, Pallas V. Studies on subcellular compartmentalization of plant pathogenic noncoding RNAs give new insights into the intracellular RNA-traffic mechanisms. PLANT PHYSIOLOGY 2012; 159:558-64. [PMID: 22474218 PMCID: PMC3375924 DOI: 10.1104/pp.112.195214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2012] [Accepted: 04/02/2012] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
MESH Headings
- 5' Untranslated Regions
- Cell Nucleus/genetics
- Cell Nucleus/metabolism
- Chloroplasts/genetics
- Chloroplasts/metabolism
- Chromosomes, Plant/genetics
- Chromosomes, Plant/metabolism
- Cloning, Molecular
- Cytoplasm/genetics
- Cytoplasm/metabolism
- DNA, Complementary/genetics
- DNA, Complementary/metabolism
- Genes, Reporter
- Green Fluorescent Proteins/genetics
- Green Fluorescent Proteins/metabolism
- Physical Chromosome Mapping
- Plant Diseases/virology
- Plant Viruses/genetics
- Plant Viruses/metabolism
- Plant Viruses/pathogenicity
- RNA Stability
- RNA Transport
- RNA, Untranslated/genetics
- RNA, Untranslated/metabolism
- RNA, Viral/genetics
- RNA, Viral/metabolism
- Signal Transduction
- Nicotiana/genetics
- Nicotiana/metabolism
- Nicotiana/virology
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Affiliation(s)
- Gustavo Gómez
- Department of Molecular and Evolutionary Plant Virology, Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, 46022 Valencia, Spain
| | - Vicente Pallas
- Department of Molecular and Evolutionary Plant Virology, Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, 46022 Valencia, Spain
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15
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Ding B. Viroids: self-replicating, mobile, and fast-evolving noncoding regulatory RNAs. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS-RNA 2012; 1:362-75. [PMID: 21956936 DOI: 10.1002/wrna.22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Viroids are small, circular, and noncoding RNAs that infect plants. They replicate in the nucleus or chloroplast and then traffic from cell to cell and from organ to organ to establish systemic infection. Viroids achieve nearly all of the biological functions by directly interacting with host cellular factors. Viroid replication, together with replication of human hepatitis delta virus, demonstrates the biological novelty and significance of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase activities of DNA-dependent RNA polymerases. Viroid systemic infection uncovers a new biological principle--the role of three-dimensional RNA structural motifs mediating RNA trafficking between specific cells. Viroid diseases are virtually the consequences of host gene regulation by noncoding RNAs. A viroid RNA has the highest in vivo mutation rate among all known nucleic acid replicons. The host range of many viroids is expanding, essentially as a result of continuing and fast evolution of noncoding sequences/structures to gain new biological functions. Here, I discuss recent progress in these areas, emphasizing the broad significance of viroid research to the discovery of fundamental biological principles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Biao Ding
- Department of Plant Cellular and Molecular Biology and Plant Biotechnology Center, The Center for RNA Biology, and Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Program, The Ohio State University, 207 Rightmire Hall, 1060 Carmack Road, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
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16
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Molina-Serrano D, Marqués J, Nohales MÁ, Flores R, Daròs JA. A chloroplastic RNA ligase activity analogous to the bacterial and archaeal 2´-5' RNA ligase. RNA Biol 2012; 9:326-33. [PMID: 22336712 DOI: 10.4161/rna.19218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Bacteria and archaea contain a 2'-5' RNA ligase that seals in vitro 2',3'-cyclic phosphodiester and 5'-hydroxyl RNA termini, generating a 2',5'-phosphodiester bond. In our search for an RNA ligase able to circularize the monomeric linear replication intermediates of viroids belonging to the family Avsunviroidae, which replicate in the chloroplast, we have identified in spinach (Spinacea oleracea L.) chloroplasts a new RNA ligase activity whose properties resemble those of the bacterial and archaeal 2'-5' RNA ligase. The spinach chloroplastic RNA ligase recognizes the 5'-hydroxyl and 2',3'-cyclic phosphodiester termini of Avocado sunblotch viroid and Eggplant latent viroid RNAs produced by hammerhead-mediated self-cleavage, yielding circular products linked through an atypical, most likely 2',5'-phosphodiester, bond. The enzyme neither requires divalent cations as cofactors, nor NTPs as substrate. The reaction apparently reaches equilibrium at a low ratio between the final circular product and the linear initial substrate. Even if its involvement in viroid replication seems unlikely, the identification of a 2'-5' RNA ligase activity in higher plant chloroplasts, with properties very similar to an analogous enzyme widely distributed in bacterial and archaeal proteomes, is intriguing and suggests an important biological role so far unknown.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diego Molina-Serrano
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Avenida de los Naranjos, Valencia, Spain
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Abstract
Viroids are the smallest known pathogenic agents. They are noncoding, single-stranded, closed-circular, "naked" RNAs, which replicate through RNA-RNA transcription. Viroids of the Avsunviroidae family possess a hammerhead ribozyme in their sequence, allowing self-cleavage during their replication. To date, viroids have only been detected in plant cells. Here, we investigate the replication of Avocado sunblotch viroid (ASBVd) of the Avsunviroidae family in a nonconventional host, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We demonstrate that ASBVd RNA strands of both polarities are able to self-cleave and to replicate in a unicellular eukaryote cell. We show that the viroid monomeric RNA is destabilized by the nuclear 3' and the cytoplasmic 5' RNA degradation pathways. For the first time, our results provide evidence that viroids can replicate in other organisms than plants and that yeast contains all of the essential cellular elements for the replication of ASBVd.
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