植物病毒编码RNA沉默抑制子的研究进展

Approaches of research on RNA silencing suppressors encoded by plant viruses

RNA沉默是真核生物用来抵抗病毒入侵的一种普遍而又古老的防御机制,而病毒在进化过程中也相应地产生了一些与之抗衡的功能,其中编码沉默抑制子就是对抗RNA沉默的有效策略。它们分别能够在不同阶段,以不同的方式干扰来自于寄主的RNA沉默,从而有效地建立侵染。本文主要针对目前已经发现的由植物病毒编码RNA沉默抑制子的作用特征、鉴定方法以及作用副效应进行综述,并讨论了RNA沉默抑制子的研究及应用前景。

In recent years, RNA silencing is identified as a general and ancient defense mechanism of plants against to virus infections. Accordingly, during the long-term evolution, mechanisms against the RNA silencing of their hosts have been developed in viruses to evade or neutralize the defense system, in which expression of suppressors is a very effective strategy. During establishment of a successful infection, virus encoded suppressors interfere with the elements related to RNA silencing at different points of the regulation pathway. This reviewing paper is mainly focusing on the functional characteristics, identification of the suppressor proteins and the side effect during the processes, while the application and the prospect of suppressors studies are briefly discussed.