Stable expression of Rice dwarf virus Pns10 suppresses the post-transcriptional gene silencing in transgenic Nicotiana benthamiana plants

Abstract

RNA silencing is a conserved mechanism that defends against viral infection and retrotransposon activity for protection of the genome. Segment 10 (S10) of Rice dwarf virus (RDV) encodes Pns10 protein, a viral suppressor of RNAi that suppresses the host RNA silencing machinery. In this study, we obtained stable transgenic RDV-S10 Nicotiana benthamiana plants expressing Pns10. Suppression of post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) by Pns10 supported the conclusion that this protein exhibited the RNA silencing suppressor activity. In particular, the transgenic plants stably expressing a viral suppressor of RNAi (VSR) provide a model system for investigating the mechanism of RNA silencing.