Viral infections in plants can cause
devastating widespread diseases,
creating a significant burden on our
agricultural system. Currently, we
have very few low-cost options to
control plant diseases. In particular,
there are few effective antivirals for
the Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV), which
Discover
the antiviral
properties
of a known
antibacterial
agent
against TMV
2
Molecular
interactions
studied
Targets: TMV coat protein (CP),
CP disks and TMV particles
Ligands: Microbial agent and
TMV RNA
Method
MST using Monolith
causes disease in a wide range of
economically significant plants.
This study aims to discover the
molecular targets of infection
and mechanisms of action of
anti-TMV agents, which have
been poorly understood. To that
end, researchers focused on
the assembly of TMV viral coat
proteins (CP) as a potential target
of infection control, which had
previously been unexplored.
Interestingly, the authors found
that a commercially used plant
antibacterial called Ningnanmycin
(NNM) inhibits assembly of these
coat proteins by directly binding to
several amino acid residues of the
viral CP.
MST was used to measure binding
affinities between NNM and TMV
particles, NNM and CP discs, and
TMV RNA and CP discs. Additionally,
a mutational analysis of CP proteins
that strategically disrupted molecular
interactions was conducted.
MST analysis between CP mutated
proteins that strategically disrupted
molecular interactions and NNM
identified critical residues within the CPs
for binding to NNM, suggesting that NNM
might effectively cure TMV infections that
have been established in plants.
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