Journal of Virology (2012) 86, 5800-5807

Dongsheng Jia, Hongyan Chen, Ailing Zheng, Qian Chen, Qifei Liu, Lianhui Xie, Zujian Wu and Taiyun Wei (2012)
Development of an insect vector cell culture and RNA interference system to investigate the functional role of fijivirus replication protein
Journal of Virology 86 (10), 5800-5807
Abstract: An in vitro culture system of primary cells from white-backed planthopper, an insect vector of Southern rice black-streaked dwarf virus (SRBSDV), a fijivirus, was established to study replication of the virus. Viroplasms, putative sites of viral replication, contained the nonstructural viral protein P9-1, viral RNA, outer-capsid proteins, and viral particles in virus-infected cultured insect vector cells, as revealed by transmission electron and confocal microscopy. Formation of viroplasm-like structures in non-host insect cells upon expression of P9-1 suggested that the matrix of viroplasms observed in virus-infected cells was composed basically of P9-1. In cultured insect vector cells, knockdown of P9-1 expression due to RNA interference (RNAi) induced by synthesized double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) from the P9-1 gene strongly inhibited viroplasm formation and viral infection. RNAi induced by ingestion of dsRNA strongly abolished viroplasm formation, preventing efficient viral spread in the body of intact vector insects. All these results demonstrated that P9-1 was essential for viroplasm formation and viral replication. This system, combining insect vector cell culture and RNA interference, can further advance our understanding of the biological activities of fijivirus replication proteins.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Zu-Jian Wu

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
molecular biology - genes

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Southern rice black-streaked dwarf virus