Homology-dependent RNA silencing occurs in many eukaryotic cells. We reported recently that nodaviral infection triggers an RNA silencing-based antiviral response (RSAR) in Drosophila, which is capable of a rapid virus clearance in the absence of expression of a virus-encoded suppressor. Here, we present further evidence to show that the Drosophila RSAR is mediated by the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway, as the viral suppressor of RSAR inhibits experimental RNAi initiated by exogenous double-stranded RNA and RSAR requires the RNAi machinery. We demonstrate that RNAi also functions as a natural antiviral immunity in mosquito cells. We further show that vaccinia virus and human influenza A, B, and C viruses each encode an essential protein that suppresses RSAR in Drosophila. The vaccinia and influenza viral suppressors, E3L and NS1, are distinct double-stranded RNA-binding proteins and essential for pathogenesis by inhibiting the mammalian IFN-regulated innate antiviral response. We found that the double-stranded RNA-binding domain of NS1, implicated in innate immunity suppression, is both essential and sufficient for RSAR suppression. These findings provide evidence that mammalian virus proteins can inhibit RNA silencing, implicating this mechanism as a nucleic acid-based antiviral immunity in mammalian cells. R NA silencing is a unique RNA-guided gene regulatory mechanism that operates in a wide range of eukaryotic organisms from plants to mammals (1). A feature common to all RNA silencing processes is the production of 21-to 26-nt small RNAs from structured or double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) by the endoribonuclease Dicer (2-6). These small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) control the specificity of RNA silencing in a homology-dependent manner by means of an RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC), of which Argonaute-2 (AGO2) is an essential protein component (1,7,8). RNA silencing in fungi, plants, and worms involves a cellular RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP); however, the multiple-turnover RISC may mediate RNA silencing in absence of a cellular RdRP in Drosophila and mammalian cells (1, 9-11).We reported recently that infection of cultured Drosophila cells with the plus-strand RNA Nodavirus flock house virus (FHV), triggers specific silencing of FHV RNAs that is associated with accumulation of 22-nt siRNAs (12). Silencing of the replicating viral RNAs is RISC-dependent and sensitive to inhibition by the FHV B2 protein, as shown by the observation that B2 is essential for FHV infection of WT Drosophila cells but dispensable in cells depleted for AGO2 (12). These findings provided an example indicating an antiviral role for RNA silencing in the animal kingdom (12, 13), as has been established in higher plants (14)(15)(16)(17)(18).In this article, we report that specific RNA silencing was induced in mosquito cells in response to viral RNA replication and show that this mosquito antiviral immunity is RISCdependent and sensitive to suppression by the B2 protein encoded by either FHV or nodamura virus (NoV). We demonstrate th...

Poliovirus RNA genomes that contained deletions in the capsid-coding regions were synthesized in monkey kidney cells that constitutively expressed T7 RNA polymerase. These replication-competent subgenomic RNAs, or replicons (G. Kaplan and V. R. Racaniello, J. Virol. 62:1687–1696, 1988), were encapsidated intrans by superinfecting polioviruses. When superinfecting poliovirus resistant to the antiviral compound guanidine was used, the RNA replication of the replicon RNAs could be inhibited independently of the RNA replication of the guanidine-resistant helper virus. Inhibiting the replication of the replicon RNA also profoundly inhibited its trans-encapsidation, even though the capsid proteins present in the cells could efficiently encapsidate the helper virus. The observed coupling between RNA replication and RNA packaging could account for the specificity of poliovirus RNA packaging in infected cells and the observed effects of mutations in the coding regions of nonstructural proteins on virion morphogenesis. It is suggested that this coupling results from direct interactions between the RNA replication machinery and the capsid proteins. The coupling of RNA packaging to RNA replication and of RNA replication to translation (J. E. Novak and K. Kirkegaard, Genes Dev. 8:1726–1737, 1994) could serve as mechanisms for late proofreading of poliovirus RNA, allowing only those RNA genomes capable of translating a full complement of functional RNA replication proteins to be propagated.

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During infection of both vertebrate and invertebrate cell lines, the alphanodavirus Nodamura virus (NoV) expresses two nonstructural proteins of different lengths from the B2 open reading frame. The functions of these proteins have yet to be determined, but B2 of the related Flock House virus suppresses RNA interference both in Drosophila cells and in transgenic plants. To examine whether the NoV B2 proteins had similar functions, we compared the replication of wild-type NoV RNA with that of mutants unable to make the B2 proteins. We observed a defect in the accumulation of mutant viral RNA that varied in extent from negligible in some cell lines (e.g., baby hamster kidney cells) to severe in others (e.g., human HeLa and Drosophila DL-1 cells). These results are consistent with the notion that the NoV B2 proteins act to circumvent an innate antiviral response such as RNA interference that differs in efficacy among different host cells.Nodamura virus (NoV) is the type species of the genus Alphanodavirus of the Nodaviridae, a family of small riboviruses with bipartite, positive-strand RNA genomes that also includes Flock House virus (FHV). NoV is unique among alphanodaviruses in its ability to lethally infect both insects and mammals, including the mosquitoes Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus, and Toxorhynchites amboinensis (4, 36, 41), suckling mice, and suckling hamsters (17,35,36). NoV infects cultured mosquito cells from Aedes pseudoscutellaris, A. aegypti, and A. albopictus (1, 3, 41) and cultured baby hamster kidney BHK21 cells (3,23,30). When NoV genomic RNAs are introduced by transfection, they can replicate in a wide range of cultured cells (6).The divided nodavirus genome naturally separates the replicative and packaging functions onto two different positivesense RNA molecules, RNA1 and RNA2, respectively. These two genomic RNAs are copackaged into the same virion, and both are required for infectivity (24,30,38). RNA1 encodes protein A, the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) that catalyzes the replication of both genome segments. RNA2 encodes the viral capsid precursor protein, ␣. RNA2 and protein ␣ are dispensable for RNA1 replication. Protein A also catalyzes the synthesis of a single subgenomic RNA3 from an RNA1 template. RNA3 is not packaged into virus particles. For FHV, RNA3 encodes two small proteins, B1 and B2, in overlapping reading frames. Protein B1 is in the same reading frame as protein A and thus represents its C-terminal fragment, whereas protein B2 is in the ϩ1 reading frame relative to protein A (11). For NoV, the first and second AUG codons of RNA3 initiate the translation of two forms of B2 (B2-137 and B2-134) that differ only at the N terminus, whereas B1 initiates at the third AUG codon. As for FHV, the B2 proteins are in the ϩ1 reading frame relative to the A/B1 open reading frame (ORF) (23). All three proteins are detected in cells transfected with NoV RNA1 (NoV1), which replicates autonomously and leads to the synthesis of RNA3 (23).The functions of the nodavirus B1 and B2 prote...

Nodamura virus (NoV) was the first isolated member of the Nodaviridae, and is the type species of the alphanodavirus genus. The alphanodaviruses infect insects; NoV is unique in that it can also lethally infect mammals. Nodaviruses have bipartite positive-sense RNA genomes in which RNA1 encodes the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and the smaller genome segment, RNA2, encodes the capsid protein precursor. To facilitate the study of NoV, we generated infectious cDNA clones of its two genomic RNAs. Transcription of these NoV1 and NoV2 cDNAs in mammalian cells led to viral RNA replication, protein synthesis, and production of infectious virus. Subgenomic RNA3 was produced during RNA replication and encodes nonstructural proteins B1 and B2 in overlapping ORFs. Site-directed mutagenesis of these ORFs, followed by SDS-PAGE and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry analyses, showed synthesis of B1 and two forms of B2 (B2-134 and B2-137) during viral replication. We also characterized a point mutation in RNA1 far upstream of the RNA3 region that resulted in decreased RNA3 synthesis and RNA2 replication, and a reduced yield of infectious particles. The ability to reproduce the entire life cycle of this unusual nodavirus from cDNA clones will facilitate further analysis of NoV RNA replication and pathogenesis.

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The Nodaviridae are a family of isometric RNA viruses that infect insects and fish. Their genomes, which are among the smallest known for animal viruses, consist of two co-encapsidated positivesense RNA segments : RNA1 encodes the viral contribution to the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) which replicates the viral genome, whereas RNA2 encodes the capsid protein precursor. In this study, the RNA1 sequences of two insect nodaviruses -Nodamura virus (the prototype of the genus) and Boolarra virus -are reported as well as detailed comparisons of their encoded RdRps with those of three other nodaviruses of insects and one of fish. Although the 5h and 3h untranslated regions did not reveal common features of RNA sequence or secondary structure, these divergent viruses showed similar genome organizations and encoded RdRps that had from 26 to 99 % amino acid sequence identity. All six RdRp amino acid sequences contained canonical RNA polymerase motifs in their C-terminal halves and conserved elements of predicted secondary structure throughout. A search for structural homologues in the protein structure database identified the poliovirus RdRp, 3D pol , as the best template for homology modelling of the RNA polymerase domain of Pariacoto virus and allowed the construction of a congruent three-dimensional model. These results extend our understanding of the relationships among the RNA1 segments of nodaviruses and the predicted structures of their encoded RdRps.

Many functions of the poliovirus genome in virally infected cells have been elucidated. However, the role of 2B (and of its precursor polypeptide, 2BC), encoded by the P2 region in the poliovirus genome, remains unknown. We have employed a genetic approach to examine the role of 2B in poliovirus-infected cells. We report here the phenotype of one previously isolated mutant in the 2B coding region, 2B201. In addition, we have constructed one additional mutation in the 2B coding region of an infectious poliovirus cDNA clone. Upon transfection into monkey Vero cells we could recover two 2B mutant polioviruses, 2B204 and 2B205. All three mutants exhibited small-plaque phenotypes on monkey Vero and human HeLa cells and displayed primary defects in viral RNA synthesis. None of the 2B mutants could be complemented by wild-type virus. Instead, the mutants exhibited a dosage-dependent dominance over wild-type poliovirus. Thus, the phenotypes of these 2B mutants implicate 2B and possibly its precursor, 2BC, in viral RNA amplification in poliovirus-infected cells, and the dominance of the 2B mutants suggests a structural role for 2B in viral replication complexes.