Abstract
Plants have developed versatile strategies to deal with the great variety of challenging conditions they are exposed to. Among them, the regulation of translation is a common target to finely modulate gene expression both under biotic and abiotic stress situations. Upon environmental challenges, translation is regulated to reduce the consumption of energy and to selectively synthesize proteins involved in the proper establishment of the tolerance response. In the case of viral infections, the situation is more complex, as viruses have evolved unconventional mechanisms to regulate translation in order to ensure the production of the viral encoded proteins using the plant machinery. Although the final purpose is different, in some cases, both plants and viruses share common mechanisms to modulate translation. In others, the mechanisms leading to the control of translation are viral- or stress-specific. In this paper, we review the different mechanisms involved in the regulation of translation initiation under virus infection and under environmental stress in plants. In addition, we describe the main features within the viral RNAs and the cellular mRNAs that promote their selective translation in plants undergoing biotic and abiotic stress situations.
Highlights
One key strategy for plants to adapt to the challenges imposed by biotic and abiotic threats is the modulation of gene expression
In the case of biotic stresses, this situation becomes more complex, as plant pathogens have developed a plethora of sophisticated molecular mechanisms directed to efficiently synthesize the proteins encoded in their genomes ensuring their propagation
This will provide an alternative to cIRESs to drive the selective translation of mRNAs under the general translation inhibition imposed by abiotic stress conditions [16]
Summary
One key strategy for plants to adapt to the challenges imposed by biotic and abiotic threats is the modulation of gene expression. Changes of gene expression rely on the regulation of a wide variety of molecular mechanisms including mRNA transcription, processing, transport, translation, storage and decay. Biotic and abiotic threats occur often suddenly and, a quick response is crucial to assure cell survival. In such a context, translational regulation of pre-existing mRNAs provides a fast and efficient way to control gene expression, especially when compared to the de novo mRNA transcription, processing and transport to cytoplasm [3]. We analyse the wide variety of strategies adopted by pathogens and plants to efficiently initiate the translation of their RNAs counteracting the restrictions imposed in each particular situation
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