Abstract
Cajal bodies (CBs) are nuclear membraneless bodies composed of proteins and RNA. Although it is known that CBs play a role in RNA metabolism and the formation of functional ribonucleoprotein (RNP) particles, the whole breadth of CB functions is far from being fully elucidated. In this short review, we will summarize and discuss the growing body of evidence pointing to an involvement of this subnuclear compartment in plant-virus interactions.
Highlights
Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201602, China; Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201602, China
Methylation (RdDM) pathway are concentrated in Cajal bodies (CBs) [15,16], so this compartment has been proposed to be a site for the assembly of protein/RNA complexes mediating de novo DNA methylation [17,18]
Fibrillarin is comprised in cytoplasmic viral RNPs [25], indicating that this plant protein is sequestered by the Open reading frame 3 (ORF3) protein at its passage through the nucleus. These results suggest that Groundnut rosette virus (GRV) has evolved to hijack intracellular trafficking pathways involving CBs, fibrillarin, and the nucleolus in order to assemble transport-competent viral RNPs and allow for the systemic invasion of the plant
Summary
Cajal bodies (CBs; known as accessory bodies or coiled bodies) are membraneless subnuclear organelles first described in 1903 by the cytologist Santiago Ramon y Cajal [1] These nuclear bodies are present in all eukaryotes examined to date; their size (0.2–2 μm) and number (1–6 in animals; 1–2 in plants) vary depending on cell type, cell cycle status, and metabolic activity (reviewed in [2]) (Figure 1). Multiple works have drawn a connection between plant CBs and responses to abiotic and biotic stresses (reviewed in [2]) Whether these functional effects are directly linked to RNA metabolism and/or snRNP formation or, on the contrary, rely on other functions of CBs remains to be clarified. Schematic representation of a N. benthamiana epidermal pavement cell showing the nucleus, the nucleolus, and a Cajal body.
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