ARTICLE ABSTRACT
								DOI: 10.1099/vir.0.18987-0
								Online 22 January 2003

Double-stranded RNA-binding proteins could suppress RNA interference-mediated antiviral defences

Zsuzsanna Lichner, Dániel Silhavy and József Burgyán

Agricultural Biotechnology Center, Plant Biology Institute, P.O. Box 411, H-2101, Gödöllö, Hungary

RNA interference (RNAi) is a double-stranded (ds)RNA-inducible, sequence-specific RNA-degradation mechanism that operates as a natural antiviral system in plants and animals. Successful virus infection requires evasion or suppression of RNAi. Indeed, RNAi suppressor proteins have been identified in plant and animal viruses, although the molecular mechanism of silencing inhibition is still poorly understood. Because many RNA viruses encode dsRNA-binding proteins (dsRBPs) and as RNAi is triggered by the accumulation of dsRNAs, dsRBPs were examined to see if they inhibit RNAi. Here, it is shown that heterologous dsRBPs suppressed RNAi in plants, indicating that in natural host-virus interactions, pathogen-encoded dsRBPs could inactivate RNAi-mediated host defences.

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© 2003 SGM

This article is now available in the April 2003 print issue of JGV (vol. 84, 975–980). The complete issue of the journal may be seen in electronic form on JGV Online.