M. Ali Rezaian

Monopartite geminiviruses of the genus Begomovirus have two virion-sense genes, V1 and V2. V2 encodes the viral coat protein, but the function of V1 is largely unknown, although some studies suggest that it may play a role in cell-to-cell movement. Yeast two-hybrid technology was used to identify possible host binding partners of V1 from Tomato leaf curl virus (TLCV) to better understand its function. A protein closely related to a family of plant reversibly glycosylated peptides, designated SlUPTG1, was found to interact with V1 in yeast and in vitro. SlUPTG1 may function endogenously in the synthesis of cell wall polysaccharides, since a bacterially expressed form of the protein acted as an autocatalytic glycosyltransferase in␣vitro, a SlUPTG1:GFP fusion protein localized to the cell wall, and expression of SlUPTG1 appeared to be highest in actively dividing tissues. However, expression of SlUPTG1 in a transient TLCV replication assay increased the accumulation of viral DNA, suggesting that this host factor also plays a role in viral infection. Together, these data provide new insight into the role of V1 in TLCV infection and reveal another host pathway which geminiviruses may manipulate to achieve an efficient infection.

Geminivirus replication enhancer (REn) proteins dramatically increase the accumulation of viral DNA species by an unknown mechanism. In this study, we present evidence implicating SlNAC1, a new member of the NAC domain protein family from tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), in Tomato leaf curl virus (TLCV) REn function. We isolated SlNAC1 using yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) two-hybrid technology and TLCV REn as bait, and confirmed the interaction between these proteins in vitro. TLCV induces SlNAC1 expression specifically in infected cells, and this upregulation requires REn. In a transient TLCV replication system, overexpression of SlNAC1 resulted in a substantial increase in viral DNA accumulation. SlNAC1 colocalized with REn to the nucleus and activated transcription of a reporter gene in yeast, suggesting that in healthy cells it functions as a transcription factor. Together, these results imply that SlNAC1 plays an important role in the process by which REn enhances TLCV replication.

The occurrence of whitefly transmitted geminiviruses in Australia was studied using a mixed DNA probe capable of detecting a range of distinct geminiviruses. The only geminivirus species detected was Tomato leaf curl virus (TLCV), which is spread across a vast geographical region of far‐northern coastal Australia, an area inhabited by the Australasian‐Oceania biotype of Bemisia tabaci . The newly introduced silverleaf whitefly, B. tabaci biotype B, forms high population densities in the eastern coastal region of Queensland and is currently located approximately 150 km from the nearest known TLCV‐infected area. The viral host range appeared to be narrow and of 58 species of crop plants and weeds inoculated using the B biotype, only 11 became infected with the virus, including five that did not show foliar symptoms. A DNA fragment of 694 nt, including the complete C4 open reading frame (ORF), the overlapping N‐terminal part of the C1 ORF and the viral iterons involved in replication, was amplified from 11 TLCV field isolates and sequenced. Sequence analysis revealed an overall sequence variation of up to 14% in this region, as well as the presence of distinct viral iterons.