Zilin Wu,Chun Zhang,Yuanqin Huang,Na Tao,Tao Wang,Xiaobo Cai,Zhenchao Wang,Xiangyang Li
Potato virus Y (PVY) is a plant virus that is known to be responsible for substantial economic losses in agriculture. Within the PVY genome, viral genome-linked protein (VPg) plays a pivotal role in the viral translation process. In this study, VPg was used as a potential target for analyzing the antiviral activity of tryptanthrin derivatives. In vitro, the dissociation constants of B1 with PVY VPg were 0.69 μmol/L (measured by microscale thermophoresis) and 4.01 μmol/L (measured via isothermal titration calorimetry). B1 also strongly bound to VPg proteins from three other Potyviruses. Moreover, in vivo experiments demonstrated that B1 effectively suppressed the expression of the PVY gene. Molecular docking experiments revealed that B1 formed a hydrogen bond with N121 and that no specific binding occurred between B1 and the PVY VPgN121A mutant. Therefore, N121 is a key amino acid residue in PVY VPg involved in B1 binding. These results highlight the potential of PVY VPg as a potential target for the development of antiviral agents.
Chloroplasts play crucial roles in plant defence against viral infection. We now report that chloroplast NADH dehydrogenase-like (NDH) complex M subunit gene ( NdhM ) was first up-regulated and then down-regulated in turnip mosaic virus (TuMV)-infected N. benthamiana . NbNdhM -silenced plants were more susceptible to TuMV, whereas overexpression of NbNdhM inhibited TuMV accumulation. Overexpression of NbNdhM significantly induced the clustering of chloroplasts around the nuclei and disturbing this clustering facilitated TuMV infection, suggesting that the clustering mediated by NbNdhM is a defence against TuMV. It was then shown that NbNdhM interacted with TuMV VPg, and that the NdhMs of different plant species interacted with the proteins of different viruses, implying that NdhM may be a common target of viruses. In the presence of TuMV VPg, NbNdhM, which is normally localized in the nucleus, chloroplasts, cell periphery and chloroplast stromules, colocalized with VPg at the nucleus and nucleolus, with significantly increased nuclear accumulation, while NbNdhM-mediated chloroplast clustering was significantly impaired. This study therefore indicates that NbNdhM has a defensive role in TuMV infection probably by inducing the perinuclear clustering of chloroplasts, and that the localization of NbNdhM is altered by its interaction with TuMV VPg in a way that promotes virus infection.
Guili Zhao,Wenjuan Zhang,Xiaodong Fu,Xin Xie,Song Bai,Xiangyang Li
The viral protein genome-linked protein (VPg) of telosma mosaic virus (TeMV) plays an important role in viral reproduction. In this study, the expression conditions of TeMV VPg were explored. A series of novel benzenesulfonamide derivatives were synthesized. The binding sites of the target compounds and TeMV VPg were studied by molecular docking, and the interaction was verified by microscale thermophoresis. The study revealed that the optimal expression conditions for TeMV VPg were in Escherichia coli Rosetta with IPTG concentration of 0.8 mM and induction temperature of 25 °C. Compounds A4, A6, A9, A16, and A17 exhibited excellent binding affinity to TeMV VPg, with Kd values of 0.23, 0.034, 0.19, 0.086, and 0.22 μM, respectively. LYS 121 is the key amino acid site. Compounds A9 inhibited the expression of TeMV VPg in Nicotiana benthamiana. The results suggested that TeMV VPg is a potential antiviral target to screen anti-TeMV compounds.