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Review
. 2021 May 6;13(5):842.
doi: 10.3390/v13050842.

The Bunyavirales: The Plant-Infecting Counterparts

Richard Kormelink  1 , Jeanmarie Verchot  2 , Xiaorong Tao  3 , Cecile Desbiez  4
Affiliations
Review

The Bunyavirales: The Plant-Infecting Counterparts

Richard Kormelink et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

Negative-strand (-) RNA viruses (NSVs) comprise a large and diverse group of viruses that are generally divided in those with non-segmented and those with segmented genomes. Whereas most NSVs infect animals and humans, the smaller group of the plant-infecting counterparts is expanding, with many causing devastating diseases worldwide, affecting a large number of major bulk and high-value food crops. In 2018, the taxonomy of segmented NSVs faced a major reorganization with the establishment of the order Bunyavirales. This article overviews the major plant viruses that are part of the order, i.e., orthospoviruses (Tospoviridae), tenuiviruses (Phenuiviridae), and emaraviruses (Fimoviridae), and provides updates on the more recent ongoing research. Features shared with the animal-infecting counterparts are mentioned, however, special attention is given to their adaptation to plant hosts and vector transmission, including intra/intercellular trafficking and viral counter defense to antiviral RNAi.

Keywords: EMARaV; Emaravirus; European mountain ash ringspot-associated virus; Fimoviridae; Orthotospovirus; Phenuiviridae; RSV; Rice stripe virus; TSWV; Tenuivirus; Tomato spotted wilt virus; Tospoviridae.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Phylogeny of seven major families within Bunyavirales in terms of the RdRp. Displayed is an unrooted neighbor joining (NJ) tree. Three families that include plant-infecting viruses are identified by green branches. The plant viruses of Tospoviridae and Fimoviridae share closer relationship than plant-infecting members of Phenuiviridae. A more comprehensive analysis of the family-level phylogenies within Bunyavirales is provided in Herath et al. [23].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Transmission electron microscopy of TSWV particles ((a) courtesy of J. van Lent), TSWV ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) (b), RHBV tenuivirus particles (c), Emaravirus particles ((d) courtesy of K.S. Kim), and a schematical presentation of a viral ribonucleoprotein (RNP) (e). RdRp, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (for tospoviruses also called L protein); N, nucleo(capsid)protein; potential other host-factors. Panhandle formed by complementary termini, and acting as promoter for replication–transcription, is shown in light gray at the position of the indicated N and RdRp. Size bar represents 100 nm (modified from [1]).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Genome organization of the plant-infecting representatives from the Phenuiviridae (genus Tenuivirus), Tospoviridae (genus Orthotospovirus), and Fimoviridae (genus Emaravirus) of the order Bunyavirales. Although emaravirus genomes contain 5 to 10 segments, as a reference genome HPWMV is shown. Functional homologous genes are indicated by color and indicated in the legend. v: viral RNA, vc: viral complementary RNA. Open reading frames (ORFs) are indicated by boxes. ORFs from ambisense RNA segments are expressed from sub-genomic length mRNAs, while ORFs from RNA segments of entire negative polarity are expressed from (near) genomic length mRNAs (modified from [1]).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Antiviral RNAi and viral counterdefense used by viral suppressors of RNAi (VSR). Identified and putative VSRs are indicated for tospoviruses (NSs), tenuiviruses (p2 (RGSV, RSV) and p3/NS3 (RHBV, RSV)), and emaraviruses (p7 and p8 (HPWMoV)). Ago, Argonaute; DCL, Dicer-like; RDR, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase; siRNA, small interfering RNA (for an overview on (antiviral) RNAi, see [10]).
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