Unusual roles of host metabolic enzymes and housekeeping proteins in plant virus replication

Abstract

Viruses have developed the ability to improvise their own replication machineries with host proteins, adapt to different environments, and overcome difficulties encountered during various stages of their infection cycles. The modular nature of protein functional motifs allows for the novel use of ordinary host factors. Recent studies have revealed that positive-sense RNA [(+)RNA] viruses may adapt regular metabolic enzymes and housekeeping proteins of host plants by exploiting unusual functions to accommodate their need for replication, mainly for recruitment and subcellular localization of RNA templates or components of replicase complexes and for controlling switches in different stages of replication. This review compares the newly discovered roles of selected metabolic enzymes and housekeeping proteins in plant (+)RNA virus replication with their original cellular functions and the different consequences when utilized by different viruses.