Abstract
Southern tomato virus (STV) is a double-stranded RNA virus (genus Amalgavirus, family Amalgaviridae) with a persistent lifestyle, transmitted only vertically by seed. STV is widely distributed showing a high incidence in tomato crops from different production regions. Acute viruses usually induce plant development and cell ultra-structural changes related to the production of plant symptoms. Some of these changes are the consequence of alterations in the expression of endogenous plant microRNAs (miRNAs) and generation of viral small interfering RNAs (vsiRNAs) which play substantial roles in plant gene expression regulation. Most cryptic or persistent viruses do not induce symptoms. However, the effect of infection of persistent viruses on their hosts has been poorly studied. In this work, high-throughput sequencing of small RNAs revealed a differential expression of five miRNAs in STV-infected tomato plants: four were upregulated (stu-miR398 - 3p, stu-miR398-5p, stu-miR3627-3p, and stu-miR408b-5p) and one downregulated (stu-miR319-3p). Target prediction analysis and GO function annotations of the host target genes suggest that those miRNAs are involved in complex cellular pathways such as response to different stress conditions and defence against pathogens. In contrast to acute plant virus infections, only a few STV derived vsiRNAs were found. Finally, neither symptoms, cell ultra-structural changes nor virus particles were observed in STV-infected tomato leaf tissues. These results suggest a complex interaction of STV with its tomato host.
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