Imaging the early events of virus infection in plants

本项目将研究荧光病毒RNA在注射到活的植物细胞后的位置和重新分布。该项目将利用实时成像方法和新开发的FlAsH和ReAsH标签，在病毒基因产物翻译后立即跟踪它们。这些标记的蛋白质将在转基因背景下成像，其中一系列细胞成分（如内质网、微管、胞间连丝）已被绿色荧光蛋白（GFP）稳定地突出显示。目的是为植物感染初期病毒RNA运输途径提供明确的证据，并确定在运输过程中与病毒基因组相互作用的病毒和宿主因子。该项目将与威康细胞生物学中心的Ilan Davis博士合作进行，并将利用爱丁堡大学中央光学成像实验室（COIL）开发的实时反卷积成像方法。

This project will investigate the location and redistribution of fluorescent viral RNA immediately following its microinjection into living plant cells. The project will utilise real-time imaging approaches and newly developed FlAsH and ReAsH tags to track viral gene products immediately following their translation. These tagged proteins will be imaged against a transgenic background in which a range of cellular components (e.g. ER, microtubules, plasmodesmata) have been stably highlighted with green fluorescent protein (GFP). The aim is to provide unequivocal evidence for the pathway of viral RNA trafficking in plants during the first stages of infection, and to identify the viral and host factors that interact with the viral genome during transit. The project will be carried out in collaboration with Dr Ilan Davis, Wellcome Centre for Cell Biology, and will utilise real-time deconvolution imaging approaches developed in the Central Optical Imaging Laboratory (COIL), Edinburgh University.