Specific and efficient translation inhibition-transcription activation resistance module against viruses in plants.

Authors

Zhaolei Li, Jing Zhang, Xinxin Yang, Ruobin Lu, Hao He, Ziyan Xu, Yuan Chen, Xueping Zhou, Fangfang Li

Published in

Science advances. Volume 12. Issue 39. Pages eaeg0007. Sep 25, 2026. Epub Sep 25, 2026.

Abstract

Positive-sense RNA viruses using subgenomic RNAs (sgRNAs) cause severe crop losses, yet this conserved feature has rarely been exploited for antiviral engineering. Here, we constructed a virus-activated synthetic immune circuit, wherein viral sgRNA production drives host defense responses via a translation inhibition-transcription activation (TI-TA) module. An optimized translational repression element (dsBC) minimized basal expression while enabling virus-specific activation of resistance-inducing proteins (RIPs) by cognate viral sgRNA promoters. This circuit functioned against three major sgRNA-producing viruses-pepino mosaic virus (PepMV), tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), and cucumber mosaic virus (CMV)-in Nicotiana benthamiana, tomato, and Arabidopsis thaliana, with cross-resistance to related viruses. RIP expression was strictly triggered by viral infection, conferring robust resistance without detectable growth penalties. This programmable strategy provides a versatile platform for engineering resistance against diverse sgRNA-producing RNA viruses and offers a conceptual framework for developing synthetic antiviral immunity in plants.

PMID:
42789717
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 26 Sep 2026.

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