Abstract
Assembling of the membrane-bound viral replicase complexes (VRCs) consisting of viral- and host-encoded proteins is a key step during the replication of positive-stranded RNA viruses in the infected cells. Previous genome-wide screens with Tomato bushy stunt tombusvirus (TBSV) in a yeast model host have revealed the involvement of eleven cellular ESCRT (endosomal sorting complexes required for transport) proteins in viral replication. The ESCRT proteins are involved in endosomal sorting of cellular membrane proteins by forming multiprotein complexes, deforming membranes away from the cytosol and, ultimately, pinching off vesicles into the lumen of the endosomes. In this paper, we show an unexpected key role for the conserved Vps4p AAA+ ATPase, whose canonical function is to disassemble the ESCRT complexes and recycle them from the membranes back to the cytosol. We find that the tombusvirus p33 replication protein interacts with Vps4p and three ESCRT-III proteins. Interestingly, Vps4p is recruited to become a permanent component of the VRCs as shown by co-purification assays and immuno-EM. Vps4p is co-localized with the viral dsRNA and contacts the viral (+)RNA in the intracellular membrane. Deletion of Vps4p in yeast leads to the formation of crescent-like membrane structures instead of the characteristic spherule and vesicle-like structures. The in vitro assembled tombusvirus replicase based on cell-free extracts (CFE) from vps4Δ yeast is highly nuclease sensitive, in contrast with the nuclease insensitive replicase in wt CFE. These data suggest that the role of Vps4p and the ESCRT machinery is to aid building the membrane-bound VRCs, which become nuclease-insensitive to avoid the recognition by the host antiviral surveillance system and the destruction of the viral RNA. Other (+)RNA viruses of plants and animals might also subvert Vps4p and the ESCRT machinery for formation of VRCs, which require membrane deformation and spherule formation.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-24-2014
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1004087
Repository Citation
Barajas, Daniel; Martín, Isabel Fernández de Castro; Pogany, Judit; Risco, Cristina; and Nagy, Peter D., "Noncanonical Role for the Host Vps4 AAA+ ATPase ESCRT Protein in the Formation of Tomato Bushy Stunt Virus Replicase" (2014). Plant Pathology Faculty Publications. 29.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/plantpath_facpub/29
TEM of stained ultra-thin sections of control BY4741 yeasts. (A–B) Independent cells, which do not express the tombusvirus replication proteins, are shown in each panel. Characteristic mitochondria (mi), Nuclei (N) and endomembranes (arrows) are distinguished but spherule-like vesicles are absent. Bars, 100 nm.
Figure_S2.pdf (358 kB)
Immunogold detection of Vps4-HA in the absence of the tombusvirus replication proteins. White arrows in A and B point to 10 nm colloidal gold particles bound to anti-HA. Bars, 100 nm.
Materials_and_Methods_S1.doc (82 kB)
Yeast strains and plasmids. Yeast strains used for electron microscopy.
Notes/Citation Information
Published in PLOS Pathogens, v. 10, issue. 4, e1004087.
© 2014 Barajas et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.