Selective Interaction of Sugarcane eIF4E with VPgs from Sugarcane Mosaic Pathogens

Zongtao Yang; Meng Dong; Guangyuan Cheng; Shuxian Liu; Hai Zhang; Heyang Shang; Yingshuan Zhou; Guoqiang Huang; Muqing Zhang; Fengji Wang; Jingsheng Xu

doi:10.3390/v13030518

Selective Interaction of Sugarcane eIF4E with VPgs from Sugarcane Mosaic Pathogens

Viruses. 2021 Mar 22;13(3):518. doi: 10.3390/v13030518.

Authors

Zongtao Yang^{1

2}, Meng Dong^{1

2}, Guangyuan Cheng^{1

2}, Shuxian Liu^{1

2}, Hai Zhang^{1

2}, Heyang Shang^{1

2}, Yingshuan Zhou^{1

2}, Guoqiang Huang^{1

2}, Muqing Zhang³, Fengji Wang², Jingsheng Xu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ National Engineering Research Center for Sugarcane & Key Laboratory of Sugarcane Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China.
² Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Genetics, Breeding and Multiple Utilization of Crops, College of Crop Science, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Jinshan, Fuzhou 350002, China.
³ State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Agro-Bioresources, Guangxi Key Laboratory for Sugarcane Biology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530005, China.

Abstract

Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) plays a key role in the infection of potyviruses in susceptible plants by interacting with viral genome-linked protein (VPg). Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) production is threatened by mosaic disease caused by Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV), Sorghum mosaic virus (SrMV), and Sugarcane streak mosaic virus (SCSMV). In this study, two eIF4Es and their isoform eIF(iso)4E and 4E-binding protein coding genes were cloned from sugarcane cultivar ROC22 and designated SceIF4Ea, SceIF4Eb, SceIF(iso)4E, and ScnCBP, respectively. Real-time quantitative PCR analysis showed different expression profiles of these four genes upon SCMV challenge. A subcellular localization assay showed that SceIF4Ea, SceIF4Eb, SceIF(iso)4E, and ScnCBP were distributed in the nucleus and cytoplasm. Yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assays showed that SceIF4Ea/b and SceIF(iso)4E were selectively employed by different sugarcane mosaic pathogens, i.e., SCMV-VPg interacted with SceIF4Ea/b and SceIF(iso)4E, SrMV-VPg interacted with both SceIF4Eb and SceIF(iso)4E, and SCSMV-VPg interacted only with SceIF(iso)4E. Intriguingly, the BiFC assays, but not the Y2H assays, showed that ScnCBP interacted with the VPgs of SCMV, SrMV, and SCSMV. Competitive interaction assays showed that SCMV-VPg, SrMV-VPg, and SCMV-VPg did not compete with each other to interact with SceIF(iso)4E, and SceIF(iso)4E competed with SceIF4Eb to interact with SrMV-VPg but not SCMV-VPg. This study sheds light on the molecular mechanism of sugarcane mosaic pathogen infection of sugarcane plants and benefits sugarcane breeding against the sugarcane mosaic disease.

Keywords: SCMV; SCSMV; SrMV; VPg; eIF4E.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-4E / metabolism*
Plant Diseases / virology*
Plant Proteins / metabolism
Potyvirus / metabolism*
Protein Binding
Viral Proteins / metabolism

Substances

Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-4E
Plant Proteins
Viral Proteins

Supplementary concepts

Sugarcane mosaic virus