Anti-viral mechanisms induced by the plant immune system / Les mécanismes anti-viraux induits par le système immunitaire végétal

我们研究植物防御病原体的分子机制，特别是病毒。 针对植物病毒的主要防御之一是基于靶向病毒的RNA遗传物质。 一种广泛称为RNA沉默的机制存在于所有真核生物中，它识别双链RNA并负责调节多种生物过程，包括通过靶向病毒双链RNA进行降解而产生的病毒抗性。 切酶蛋白将双链RNA加工成确定的小RNA，并且这些小RNA又被掺入“切酶”复合物中，所述复合物靶向与小RNA互补的任何RNA。 切割复合物的活性组分是被称为Argonaute（AGO）蛋白的内切核糖核酸酶家族。 高等植物基因组编码至少10种AGO蛋白，它们参与多种RNA沉默相关的现象，其中一些蛋白与组成型抗病毒防御有关。 反过来，植物病毒已经进化出RNA沉默的抑制子来克服这种组成性防御。 然而，除了RNA沉默之外，植物还编码免疫受体样蛋白（NB-LRR蛋白），其识别所有类型的病原体并诱导一系列引人注目的防御反应。 我们已经发现NB-LRR蛋白与某些AGO蛋白结合，以阻止病毒RNA翻译蛋白质，从而阻止病毒传播。 然而，这一过程似乎使用不同的AGO家族成员比那些参与组成性抗病毒反应。 我们将确定哪些AGO家族成员负责组成和诱导的抗病毒反应，我们将使用各种植物模型系统，遗传学，生物化学，细胞和分子生物学来表征这些蛋白质如何影响病毒RNA转录本的翻译。 此外，我们将确定与NB-LRR蛋白相互作用的细胞蛋白质，以便更深入地了解诱导的抗病毒反应是如何启动的。

We study the molecular mechanisms by which plants defend themselves against pathogens in general, and viruses in particular. One of the main defences against plant viruses is based on targeting the RNA genetic material of the virus. A mechanism broadly known as RNA silencing exists in all eukaryotes that recognizes double-stranded RNAs and is responsible for regulating multiple biological processes, including virus resistance by targeting viral double-stranded RNA for degradation. Dicer proteins process double-stranded RNAs into defined small RNAs and these in turn are incorporated into "slicer" complexes which target any RNAs with complementarity to the small RNA. The active components of slicer complexes are a family of endoribonucleases known as Argonaute (AGO) proteins. Higher plant genomes encode at least ten AGO proteins, which are involved in a variety of RNA silencing-related phenomenon, and some of these have been implicated in constitutive anti-viral defences. In turn, plant viruses have evolved suppressors of RNA silencing to overcome this constitutive defence. However, in addition to RNA silencing, plants encode immune receptor-like proteins (NB-LRR proteins) that recognize all types of pathogens and induce a dramatic suite of defence responses. We have found that NB-LRR proteins engage certain AGO proteins to occlude viral RNAs from translating protein, hence stopping the virus from spreading. However, this process appears to use different AGOs family members than those involved in constitutive anti-viral responses. We will identify which AGO family members are responsible for both constitutive and induced anti-viral responses and we will characterize how these proteins affect the translation of viral RNA transcripts using a variety of plant model systems, genetics, biochemistry, cell and molecular biology. In addition we will identify cellular proteins that interact with NB-LRR proteins in order to gain more insight into how induced anti-viral responses are initiated.