Viral proteins suppress rice defenses by boosting OsTSN1 RNA decay via phase separation and multimerization

Abstract Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) forms membraneless condensates crucial for plant stress responses. However, how plant viruses utilize LLPS to escape host immunity remains largely unexplored. Here, we show that P6 protein encoded by southern rice black-streaked dwarf virus (SRBSDV) und...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ming Zeng, Shuai Fu, Youping Xu, Liyan Li, Dan Wang, Shi-bo Gao, Lianshun Zheng, Yunge Zhang, Cui Zhang, Shifang Fei, Xuan Ye, Lele Chen, Yaqin Wang, Tong Zhang, Xueping Zhou, Jianxiang Wu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-08-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62395-5
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849764632811536384
author Ming Zeng
Shuai Fu
Youping Xu
Liyan Li
Dan Wang
Shi-bo Gao
Lianshun Zheng
Yunge Zhang
Cui Zhang
Shifang Fei
Xuan Ye
Lele Chen
Yaqin Wang
Tong Zhang
Xueping Zhou
Jianxiang Wu
author_facet Ming Zeng
Shuai Fu
Youping Xu
Liyan Li
Dan Wang
Shi-bo Gao
Lianshun Zheng
Yunge Zhang
Cui Zhang
Shifang Fei
Xuan Ye
Lele Chen
Yaqin Wang
Tong Zhang
Xueping Zhou
Jianxiang Wu
author_sort Ming Zeng
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) forms membraneless condensates crucial for plant stress responses. However, how plant viruses utilize LLPS to escape host immunity remains largely unexplored. Here, we show that P6 protein encoded by southern rice black-streaked dwarf virus (SRBSDV) undergoes LLPS. P6 interacts with OsTSN1 to form the P6-OsTSN1-containing droplets co-localized with stress granules (SGs). Within these droplets, P6 enhances OsTSN1 nuclease activity via promoting its multimerization to degrade transcripts with G-A-rich motifs of two transcription factors (TFs), OsNAC15 and OsLHY. These two TFs regulate the transcription of OsJAZ6, OsJAZ12, and OsATG8C, key components of jasmonic acid (JA)- and autophagy-associated defense pathways. Furthermore, the degradation of OsNAC15 and OsLHY transcripts in P6-OsTSN1-containing droplets weakens JA- and autophagy-mediated defenses in rice, facilitating SRBSDV infection. Additionally, similar to SRBSDV P6, intrinsically disordered region (IDR)-containing RNA silencing suppressors encoded by rice black-streaked dwarf virus and rice stripe virus, also interact with OsTSN1, promoting the degradation of OsNAC15 and OsLHY transcripts to enhance viral infection. Our findings indicate that OsTSN1 acts as a central positive regulator of virus infection in rice, convergently co-opted by viruses. These insights help us to better understand the roles of LLPS and OsTSN1 in virus infection in rice.
format Article
id doaj-art-0fc75a8451cc49adab492bfbb90febf3
institution DOAJ
issn 2041-1723
language English
publishDate 2025-08-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series Nature Communications
spelling doaj-art-0fc75a8451cc49adab492bfbb90febf32025-08-20T03:05:06ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-08-0116112410.1038/s41467-025-62395-5Viral proteins suppress rice defenses by boosting OsTSN1 RNA decay via phase separation and multimerizationMing Zeng0Shuai Fu1Youping Xu2Liyan Li3Dan Wang4Shi-bo Gao5Lianshun Zheng6Yunge Zhang7Cui Zhang8Shifang Fei9Xuan Ye10Lele Chen11Yaqin Wang12Tong Zhang13Xueping Zhou14Jianxiang Wu15State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Biology and Ecological Regulation of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang UniversityState Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Biology and Ecological Regulation of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang UniversityAnalysis Center of Agrobiology and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang UniversityState Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Biology and Ecological Regulation of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang UniversityState Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Biology and Ecological Regulation of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang UniversityState Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Biology and Ecological Regulation of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang UniversityState Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Biology and Ecological Regulation of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang UniversityState Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Biology and Ecological Regulation of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang UniversityState Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Biology and Ecological Regulation of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang UniversityState Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Biology and Ecological Regulation of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang UniversityState Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Biology and Ecological Regulation of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang UniversityState Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Biology and Ecological Regulation of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang UniversityState Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Biology and Ecological Regulation of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang UniversityGuangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control, College of Plant Protection, South China Agricultural UniversityState Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Biology and Ecological Regulation of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang UniversityState Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Biology and Ecological Regulation of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang UniversityAbstract Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) forms membraneless condensates crucial for plant stress responses. However, how plant viruses utilize LLPS to escape host immunity remains largely unexplored. Here, we show that P6 protein encoded by southern rice black-streaked dwarf virus (SRBSDV) undergoes LLPS. P6 interacts with OsTSN1 to form the P6-OsTSN1-containing droplets co-localized with stress granules (SGs). Within these droplets, P6 enhances OsTSN1 nuclease activity via promoting its multimerization to degrade transcripts with G-A-rich motifs of two transcription factors (TFs), OsNAC15 and OsLHY. These two TFs regulate the transcription of OsJAZ6, OsJAZ12, and OsATG8C, key components of jasmonic acid (JA)- and autophagy-associated defense pathways. Furthermore, the degradation of OsNAC15 and OsLHY transcripts in P6-OsTSN1-containing droplets weakens JA- and autophagy-mediated defenses in rice, facilitating SRBSDV infection. Additionally, similar to SRBSDV P6, intrinsically disordered region (IDR)-containing RNA silencing suppressors encoded by rice black-streaked dwarf virus and rice stripe virus, also interact with OsTSN1, promoting the degradation of OsNAC15 and OsLHY transcripts to enhance viral infection. Our findings indicate that OsTSN1 acts as a central positive regulator of virus infection in rice, convergently co-opted by viruses. These insights help us to better understand the roles of LLPS and OsTSN1 in virus infection in rice.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62395-5
spellingShingle Ming Zeng
Shuai Fu
Youping Xu
Liyan Li
Dan Wang
Shi-bo Gao
Lianshun Zheng
Yunge Zhang
Cui Zhang
Shifang Fei
Xuan Ye
Lele Chen
Yaqin Wang
Tong Zhang
Xueping Zhou
Jianxiang Wu
Viral proteins suppress rice defenses by boosting OsTSN1 RNA decay via phase separation and multimerization
Nature Communications
title Viral proteins suppress rice defenses by boosting OsTSN1 RNA decay via phase separation and multimerization
title_full Viral proteins suppress rice defenses by boosting OsTSN1 RNA decay via phase separation and multimerization
title_fullStr Viral proteins suppress rice defenses by boosting OsTSN1 RNA decay via phase separation and multimerization
title_full_unstemmed Viral proteins suppress rice defenses by boosting OsTSN1 RNA decay via phase separation and multimerization
title_short Viral proteins suppress rice defenses by boosting OsTSN1 RNA decay via phase separation and multimerization
title_sort viral proteins suppress rice defenses by boosting ostsn1 rna decay via phase separation and multimerization
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62395-5
work_keys_str_mv AT mingzeng viralproteinssuppressricedefensesbyboostingostsn1rnadecayviaphaseseparationandmultimerization
AT shuaifu viralproteinssuppressricedefensesbyboostingostsn1rnadecayviaphaseseparationandmultimerization
AT youpingxu viralproteinssuppressricedefensesbyboostingostsn1rnadecayviaphaseseparationandmultimerization
AT liyanli viralproteinssuppressricedefensesbyboostingostsn1rnadecayviaphaseseparationandmultimerization
AT danwang viralproteinssuppressricedefensesbyboostingostsn1rnadecayviaphaseseparationandmultimerization
AT shibogao viralproteinssuppressricedefensesbyboostingostsn1rnadecayviaphaseseparationandmultimerization
AT lianshunzheng viralproteinssuppressricedefensesbyboostingostsn1rnadecayviaphaseseparationandmultimerization
AT yungezhang viralproteinssuppressricedefensesbyboostingostsn1rnadecayviaphaseseparationandmultimerization
AT cuizhang viralproteinssuppressricedefensesbyboostingostsn1rnadecayviaphaseseparationandmultimerization
AT shifangfei viralproteinssuppressricedefensesbyboostingostsn1rnadecayviaphaseseparationandmultimerization
AT xuanye viralproteinssuppressricedefensesbyboostingostsn1rnadecayviaphaseseparationandmultimerization
AT lelechen viralproteinssuppressricedefensesbyboostingostsn1rnadecayviaphaseseparationandmultimerization
AT yaqinwang viralproteinssuppressricedefensesbyboostingostsn1rnadecayviaphaseseparationandmultimerization
AT tongzhang viralproteinssuppressricedefensesbyboostingostsn1rnadecayviaphaseseparationandmultimerization
AT xuepingzhou viralproteinssuppressricedefensesbyboostingostsn1rnadecayviaphaseseparationandmultimerization
AT jianxiangwu viralproteinssuppressricedefensesbyboostingostsn1rnadecayviaphaseseparationandmultimerization