Post-transcriptional gene silencing in plants

Post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) in plants is an RNA-degradation mechanism that shows similarities to RNA interference (RNAi) in animals. Indeed, both involve double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), spread within the organism from a localised initiating area, correlate with the accumulation of small interfering RNA (siRNA) and require putative RNA-dependent RNA polymerases, RNA helicases and proteins of unknown functions containing PAZ and Piwi domains. However, some differences are evident. First, PTGS in plants requires at least two genes – SGS3 (which encodes a protein of unknown function containing a coil-coiled domain) and MET1 (which encodes a DNA-methyltransferase) – that are absent in C. elegans and thus are not required for RNAi. Second, all Arabidopsis mutants that exhibit impaired PTGS are hypersusceptible to infection by the cucumovirus CMV, indicating that PTGS participates in a mechanism for plant resistance to viruses. Interestingly, many viruses have developed strategies to counteract PTGS and successfully infect plants – for example, by potentiating endogenous suppressors of PTGS. Whether viruses can counteract RNAi in animals and whether endogenous suppressors of RNAi exist in animals is still unknown.

DNA methylation and chromatin structure affect transcriptional and post-transcriptional transgene silencing in Arabidopsis

In plants, transgenes can be silenced at both the transcriptional [1] and post-transcriptional levels [2]. Methylation of the transgene promoter correlates with transcriptional gene silencing (TGS) [3] whereas methylation of the coding sequence is associated with post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) [4]. In animals, TGS requires methylation and changes in chromatin conformation [5]. The involvement of methylation during PTGS in plants is unclear and organisms with non-methylated genomes such as Caenorhabditis elegans or Drosophila can display RNA interference (RNAi), a silencing process mechanistically related to PTGS [6]. Here, we crossed Arabidopsis mutants impaired in a SWI2/SNF2 chromatin component (ddm1 [7]) or in the major DNA methyltransferase (met1 [8] and E. Richards, personal communication) with transgenic lines in which a reporter consisting of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter fused to the beta-glucuronidase (GUS) gene (35S-GUS) was silenced by TGS or PTGS. We observed an efficient release of 35S-GUS TGS by both the ddm1 and met1 mutations and stochastic release of 35S-GUS PTGS by these two mutations during development. These results show that DNA methylation and chromatin structure are common regulators of TGS and PTGS.

Arabidopsis SGS2 and SGS3 genes are required for posttranscriptional gene silencing and natural virus resistance

Posttranscriptional gene silencing (PTGS) in plants resuits from the degradation of mRNAs and shows phenomenological similarities with quelling in fungi and RNAi in animals. Here, we report the isolation of sgs2 and sgs3 Arabidopsis mutants impaired in PTGS. We establish a mechanistic link between PTGS, quelling, and RNAi since the Arabidopsis SGS2 protein is similar to an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase like N. crassa QDE-1, controlling quelling, and C. elegans EGO-1, controlling RNAi. In contrast, SGS3 shows no significant similarity with any known or putative protein, thus defining a specific step of PTGS in plants. Both sgs2 and sgs3 mutants show enhanced susceptibility to virus, definitively proving that PTGS is an antiviral defense mechanism that can also target transgene RNA for degradation.

Infection of tobacco or Arabidopsis plants by CMV counteracts systemic post-transcriptional silencing of nonviral (trans)genes

Cucumber mosaic cucumovirus (CMV) infection but not tomato black ring nepovirus infection counteracted post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) of nitrate reductase (Nia) or beta-glucuronidase (uidA) transgenes in newly developing leaves of tobacco and Arabidopsis plants. PTGS did not affect meristems of noninfected silenced plants, indicating that the interfering effect of CMV is not likely to occur in the meristem. Models are proposed to explain how CMV (which has no sequence similarity to the Nia or uidA transgenes) can inhibit cellular factors involved in the RNA degradation step of PTGS and/or inhibit the systemic spread of the silencing signal to tissues emerging from the meristem.