0000000000810350

AUTHOR

Beilei Wu

Defects in plant immunity modulate the rates and patterns of RNA virus evolution

AbstractIt is assumed that host genetic variability for susceptibility to infection necessarily conditions virus evolution. Differences in host susceptibility can either drive the virus to diversify into strains that track different defense alleles (e.g., antigenic diversity) or to infect only the most susceptible genotypes. To clarify these processes and their effect on virulence, we have studied how variability in host defense responses determine the evolutionary fate of viruses. To accomplish this, we performed evolution experiments with Turnip mosaic potyvirus in Arabidopsis thaliana mutants. Mutant plants had disruptions in infection-response signaling pathways or in genes whose produc…

research product

Mutagenesis scanning uncovers evolutionary constraints on tobacco etch Potyvirus membrane-associated 6K2 protein

RNA virus high mutation rate is a double-edged sword. At the one side, most mutations jeopardize proteins functions; at the other side, mutations are needed to fuel adaptation. The relevant question then is the ratio between beneficial and deleterious mutations. To evaluate this ratio, we created a mutant library of the 6K2 gene of tobacco etch potyvirus that contains every possible single-nucleotide substitution. 6K2 protein anchors the virus replication complex to the network of endoplasmic reticulum membranes. The library was inoculated into the natural host Nicotiana tabacum, allowing competition among all these mutants and selection of those that are potentially viable. We identified 1…

research product