Structure of the turnip yellows virus particles

Abstract

Turnip yellows virus (TuYV) is a plant virus infecting important crops such as oilseed rape. TuYV is phloem-restricted and transmitted by aphids. The capsid contains two subunit types: the major capsid protein (CP) and a minor component (RTP∗) which arises from the C-terminal cleavage of a readthrough product (RTP). RTP∗ contains the CP sequence fused with a structured domain, denoted NRTD, which is a key determinant of virus transmission. Though both CP and RTP∗ are involved in virus movement and aphid transmission, how RTP∗ is incorporated into the capsid is poorly understood. We present here the structural characterisation, by immunogold labelling and 3D cryo-EM, of the wild-type TuYV and a mutant whose capsid contains the CP only. We show that incorporation of RTP∗ does not impair the capsid structure, and the NRTD does not adopt well-defined positions at the capsid surface. The number of incorporated RTP∗s suggests a random insertion.