In diverse eukaryotic organisms, Dicer-processed, virus-derived small interfering RNAs direct antiviral immunity by RNA silencing or RNA interference. Here we show that in addition to core dicing and slicing components of RNAi, the RNAi-mediated viral immunity in Arabidopsis thaliana requires host RNA-directed RNA polymerase ( RDR ) 1 or RDR6 to produce viral secondary siRNAs following viral RNA replication-triggered biogenesis of primary siRNAs. We found that the two antiviral RDRs exhibited specificity in targeting the tripartite positive-strand RNA genome of cucumber mosaic virus (CMV). RDR1 preferentially amplified the 5′-terminal siRNAs of each of the three viral genomic RNAs, whereas an increased production of siRNAs targeting the 3′ half of RNA3 detected in rdr1 mutant plants appeared to be RDR6-dependent. However, siRNAs derived from a single-stranded 336-nucleotide satellite RNA of CMV were not amplified by either antiviral RDR, suggesting avoidance of the potent RDR-dependent silencing as a strategy for the molecular parasite of CMV to achieve preferential replication. Our work thus identifies a distinct mechanism for the amplification of immunity effectors, which together with the requirement for the biogenesis of endogenous siRNAs, may play a role in the emergence and expansion of eukaryotic RDRs.

Sequential polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analyses showed many viroid-like RNAs in samples collected from citrus trees in Japan. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and sequencing analyses of the amplified fragments verified that they were derived from variants of six citrus viroids, Citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd), Citrus bent leaf viroid (CBLVd) including CVd-I-LSS (a distinct variant of CBLVd), Hop stunt viroid, Citrus viroid III, Citrus viroid IV, and Citrus viroid OS. The samples induced symptoms with variable severity in Arizona 861-S1 ‘Etrog’ citrons (Citrus medica L.) likely due to the varying accumulation patterns produced by the different viroids. Some of the symptoms caused by the samples harboring the citrus viroids other than CEVd were as severe as those caused by CEVd. Some source citrus trees showing the severe bark scaling characteristic of exocortis disease in trifoliate orange (Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf.) rootstocks contained only citrus viroids other than CEVd in complex. This indicates that certain exocortis-like diseases in Japan were caused by some combination of citrus viroids not including CEVd.

Deep-sequencing analysis of nucleic acids from leaf tissue of Japanese persimmon trees exhibiting fruit apex disorder in some fruits detected two molecules that were graft transmitted to healthy seedlings. One of the complete genomes consisted of 13 467 nt and encoded six genes similar to those of plant rhabdoviruses. The virus formed a distinct cluster in the genus Cytorhabdovirus with lettuce necrotic yellows virus, lettuce yellow mottle virus and strawberry crinkle virus in a phylogenetic tree based on the L protein (RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, RdRp). The other consisted of 7475 nt and shared a genome organization similar to those of some insect and fungal viruses having dsRNA genomes. In a phylogenetic tree using the RdRp sequence of several unassigned dsRNA viruses, the virus formed a possible new genus cluster with two insect viruses, Circulifer tenellus virus 1 and Spissistilus festinus virus 1, and one plant virus, cucurbit yellows-associated virus.