Virus-derived siRNAs in Arabidopsis thaliana

We investigated the role of A. thaliana RDRs in the RNAi-mediated viral immunity by using a mutant of cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) that does not express the VSR protein 2b. CMV contains three positive-strand genomic RNAs and the 2b protein encoded by RNA2 is essential for infection by suppressing antiviral silencing initiated by either DCL4 or DCL2. Our results demonstrate an essential role for the amplification of viral siRNAs by either RDR1 or RDR6 in antiviral silencing. Further analyses, including Illumina sequencing of more than 3.5 million viral siRNAs, indicated target specificity of the two antiviral RDRs. Examination of the viral siRNAs of CMV in the wild-type and mutants of A. thaliana