Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Sep;64(9):1522-1532.
doi: 10.1007/s11427-020-1846-8. Epub 2021 Jan 8.

Rice yellow stunt virus activates polyamine biosynthesis to promote viral propagation in insect vectors by disrupting ornithine decarboxylase antienzyme function

Xiao-Feng Zhang #  1 , Tianbao Zeng #  1 , Yunjie Xie  1 , Yuemin Zheng  1 , Huanqin Wang  1 , Hanbin Lin  1 , Zongwen Wang  1 , Taiyun Wei  2
Affiliations

Rice yellow stunt virus activates polyamine biosynthesis to promote viral propagation in insect vectors by disrupting ornithine decarboxylase antienzyme function

Xiao-Feng Zhang et al. Sci China Life Sci. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

Intracellular polyamines (putrescine, spermidine, and spermine) have emerged as important molecules for viral infection; however, how viruses activate polyamines biosynthesis to promote viral infection remains unclear. Ornithine decarboxylase 1 (ODC1) and its antienzyme 1 (OAZ1) are major regulators of polyamine biosynthesis in animal cells. Here, we report that rice yellow stunt virus (RYSV), a plant rhabdovirus, could activate putrescine biosynthesis in leafhoppers to promote viral propagation by inhibiting OAZ1 expression. We observed that the reduction of putrescine biosynthesis by treatment with difluormethylornithine (DFMO), a specific nontoxic inhibitor of ODC1, or with in vitro synthesized dsRNAs targeting ODC1 mRNA could inhibit viral infection. In contrast, the supplement of putrescine or the increase of putrescine biosynthesis by treatment with dsRNAs targeting OAZ1 mRNA could facilitate viral infection. We further determined that both RYSV matrix protein M and ODC1 directly bind to the ODC-binding domain at the C-terminus of OAZ1. Thus, viral propagation in leafhoppers would decrease the ability of OAZ1 to target and mediate the degradation of ODC1, which finally activates putrescine production to benefit viral propagation. This work reveals that polyamine-metabolizing enzymes are directly exploited by a vector-borne virus to increase polyamine production, thereby facilitating viral infection in insect vectors.

Keywords: leafhopper; plant virus; polyamines; rice yellow stunt virus; viral infection.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Compliance and ethics The author(s) declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Beenukumar RR, Gödderz D, Palanimurugan R, Dohmen RJ. Polyamines directly promote antizyme-mediated degradation of ornithine decarboxylase by the proteasome. Microb Cell. 2015;2:197–207. doi: 10.15698/mic2015.06.206. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chiu RJ, Lo TC, Pi CL, Chen MH. Transitory yellowing of rice and its transmission by the leafhopper Nephotettix apicalis. Bot Bull Acad Sin Taipei. 1965;6:1–18.
    1. Di DP, Zhang YL, Yan C, Yan T, Zhang AH, Yang F, Cao XL, Li DW, Lu YG, Wang XB, et al. First report of Barley yellow striate mosaic virus on wheat in China. Plant Dis. 2014;98:1450. doi: 10.1094/PDIS-06-14-0579-PDN. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fan H, Zeng DS, Ye BJ, Lu BC. The preliminary investigation on rice yellow stunt disease in Guangdong. Plant Prot. 1965;3:143–145.
    1. Fang RX, Wang Q, Xu BY, Pang Z, Zhu HT, Mang KQ, Gao D M, Qin WS, Chua NH. Structure of the nucleocapsid protein gene of rice yellow stunt rhabdovirus. Virology. 1994;204:367–375. doi: 10.1006/viro.1994.1541. - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources