Abstract
Involvement of 26S proteasomal subunits in plant pathogen-interactions, and the roles of each subunit in independently modulating the activity of many intra- and inter-cellular regulators controlling physiological and defense responses of a plant were well reported. In this regard, we aimed to functionally characterize a Solanum lycopersicum 26S proteasomal subunit RPT4a (SlRPT4) gene, which was differentially expressed after Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV) infection in tolerant cultivar H-88-78-1. Molecular analysis revealed that SlRPT4 protein has an active ATPase activity. SlRPT4 could specifically bind to the stem-loop structure of intergenic region (IR), present in both DNA-A and DNA-B molecule of the bipartite viral genome. Lack of secondary structure in replication-associated gene fragment prevented formation of DNA-protein complex suggesting that binding of SlRPT4 with DNA is secondary structure specific. Interestingly, binding of SlRPT4 to IR inhibited the function of RNA Pol-II and subsequently reduced the bi-directional transcription of ToLCNDV genome. Virus-induced gene silencing of SlRPT4 gene incited conversion of tolerant attributes of cultivar H-88-78-1 into susceptibility. Furthermore, transient overexpression of SlRPT4 resulted in activation of programmed cell death and antioxidant enzymes system. Overall, present study highlights non-proteolytic function of SlRPT4 and their participation in defense pathway against virus infection in tomato.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Article number | 27078 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Scientific Reports |
Volume | 6 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 01 Jun 2016 |
Keywords
- Begomovirus/genetics
- DNA, Viral/chemistry
- Gene Expression Regulation
- Genome, Viral
- Host-Pathogen Interactions/genetics
- Inverted Repeat Sequences
- Plant Diseases/genetics
- Plant Immunity/genetics
- Plant Proteins/genetics
- Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex/genetics
- Protein Binding
- Protein Subunits/genetics
- Signal Transduction
- Solanum lycopersicum/genetics
- Transcription, Genetic