Research Advances in Negative-Strand Plant RNA Viruses

Abstract

Plant negative-strand RNA viruses cause a number of significant diseases in agriculturally important crops worldwide. As the counterpart of mammalian-infecting viruses, the negative-strand plant viruses share similarities with mammalian viruses in their particle morphology and genome organization. Similar to mammalian-infecting viruses, the genomic RNAs of plant negative-strand viruses are associated with a nucleocapsid protein to form a ribonucleocapsid core which are minimal infectious units and essential for viral replication and transcription. To adapt to the plant host, plant negative-strand RNA viruses have evolved not only movement proteins to aid the viruses moving between plant cells but also RNA silencing suppressors to attack the plant innate immune system. In this article we present an overview of the negative-strand RNA plant viruses classified within the families Bunyaviridae, Ophioviridae, Rhabdoviridae and genera Tenuivirus, Emaravirus and Varicosavirus. We highlight important discoveries over the last decade regarding the replication, transcription, movement, suppression of RNA silencing, and insect transmission of these negative-strand viruses, and antiviral strategies.