The C5 protein of euphorbia leaf curl virus is a virulence factor and gene silencing suppressor

Abstract

The genome of a monopartite begomovirus, or the DNA-A component of a bipartite begomovirus, typically encodes six proteins: two on the viral strand (AV1/V1 and AV2/V2) and four on the complementary strand (AC1/C1, AC2/C2, AC3/C3, AC4/C4). Recent studies, however, have identified additional begomoviral proteins with various functions. This paper reports that euphorbia leaf curl virus (EuLCV), a monopartite begomovirus, encodes a seventh protein, C5. Promoter activity of the upstream fragment of the EuLCV C5 gene was shown using a GUS expression vector. EuLCV C5 also enhanced the pathogenicity and accumulation of potato virus X (PVX) in Nicotiana benthamiana. Localization studies revealed that EuLCV C5 localizes to the cytoplasm and nucleus, forming granular structures on the cell membrane. Additionally, C5 acts as a post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) suppressor. A C5 deletion mutant of EuLCV (EuLCV-ΔC5) exhibited reduced pathogenicity and viral accumulation compared to wild-type EuLCV in N. benthamiana.

Keywords: C5 protein; Euphorbia leaf curl virus; Pathogenicity determinant; Post-transcriptional gene silencing.