{"id":14,"date":"2016-04-05T21:59:11","date_gmt":"2016-04-05T21:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/projects.nib.si\/pvidynamics\/?page_id=14"},"modified":"2021-01-13T08:03:58","modified_gmt":"2021-01-13T07:03:58","slug":"summary","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/projects.nib.si\/pvidynamics\/summary\/","title":{"rendered":"Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Potato is one of the most important crops with yearly production of about 350 million tons. Potato virus Y (PVY) is the most economically devastating plant virus affecting the potato production worldwide (Kreuze et al., 2020). One of the major concerns for potato growers is the PVYNTN<\/sup> strain being the most aggressive PVY isolate, which is outcompeting other isolates on the field and is able to induce potato tuber necrotic ringspot disease (PTNRD) in potato tubers. The reduction in tuber marketable yield can reach up to 80%. Due to its economic impact, extensive programs have been developed to control and manage the PVY infection, however the virus still represents an ongoing challenge (Lacomme and Jacquot, 2017).<\/p>\n

As an intracellular parasite, viruses depend on the molecular machinery of the plant cells. Therefore, to complete its infection cycle, the virus reprograms the intracellular environment of the host. A complex and dynamic interaction network is established between viral and plant proteins. Understanding the plant-virus interaction is essential for the development of sustainable and efficient plant protection strategies.<\/p>\n

During the last years, technical and computational advances helped us to better understand the large interaction networks. The use of systems biology approach has shown to be a powerful tool to reveal molecular basis of plant defence response. At NIB, we built the potato knowledge network and a mechanistic model of defence signalling (Miljkovic et al., 2012; Ramsak et al., 2018). Together with the use of large omics datasets, the analysis of knowledge network disclosed an unknown connection between ethylene and salicylic acid signalling (Ramsak et al., 2018). On the other hand, structural studies of viral proteins shed some light on the roles of some PVY proteins. In line with this, we recently determined the high-resolution cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM) structure of the PVY virions, which reveal important features of coat protein (CP) structure for understanding its multifunctional nature as well as its complex and compact assembly into flexuous and filamentous viral particles (Ke\u017ear et al., 2019). Similarly, structure of another PVY protein, the viral protein genome-linked (VPg), was determined (Coutinho de Oliveira et al., 2019).<\/p>\n

However, the plant cell-PVY protein interaction network is still poorly understood and the dynamic nature of this interactome has not been addressed yet. Namely, the interactions change during the course of the viral life cycle; they are dynamic both in time and space (see review M\u00e4kinen and Hafr\u00e9n, 2014). Thus, it is important to address and understand also this aspect in studies of plant-virus interactions (Rodrigo et al., 2017). In order to uncover the subcellular localisation, the timing and the protein complexes involved in different steps of the viral cycle, a sophisticated combination of research methods has to be exploited. This knowledge will help, not only to understand the necessary mechanisms required to establish an infection cycle and how the virus manipulates the plant machinery, but also to shed light on plant pathways that contribute to disease development.<\/p>\n

The aim of the proposed research project is to better understand the complex mechanism of PVY infection cycle<\/strong>. Special emphasis will be put on studying the viral cell-to-cell movement and how the virus hijacks the host\u2019s machinery to carry out a successful infective cycle.<\/p>\n

We hypothesise that the dynamic changes of the plant-virus interaction network<\/strong> are crucial for a successful infection.<\/p>\n

In order to attest it, we have set the following specific objectives<\/strong>:<\/p>\n