Virus infection improves drought tolerance

Viruses are obligate intracellular symbionts. Plant viruses are often discovered and studied as pathogenic parasites that cause diseases in agricultural plants. However, here it is shown that viruses can extend survival of their hosts under conditions of abiotic stress that could benefit hosts if th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The New phytologist 2008-12, Vol.180 (4), p.911-921
Main Authors: Xu, Ping, Chen, Fang, Mannas, Jonathan P., Feldman, Tracy, Sumner, Lloyd W., Roossinck, Marilyn J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Physiological
Antioxidants - metabolism
beet (Beta vulgaris)
Beets
Brome mosaic virus
Cucumber mosaic virus
Cytomegalovirus
Dehydration
Dehydration - metabolism
Drought
Droughts
Freezing
Host-Pathogen Interactions - physiology
Infections
infectious virus
Leaves
metabolites
mutualistic symbiosis
Oryza sativa
Parasite hosts
Plant Diseases - virology
Plant Physiological Phenomena
Plants
Plants - virology
Principal Component Analysis
Rice
rice (Oryza sativa)
RNA Viruses - metabolism
stress tolerance
Symptoms
Tobacco mosaic virus
Tobacco rattle virus
Viruses
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Summary:Viruses are obligate intracellular symbionts. Plant viruses are often discovered and studied as pathogenic parasites that cause diseases in agricultural plants. However, here it is shown that viruses can extend survival of their hosts under conditions of abiotic stress that could benefit hosts if they subsequently recover and reproduce. Various plant species were inoculated with four different RNA viruses, Brome mosaic virus (BMV), Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), Tobacco mosaic virus and Tobacco rattle virus. The inoculated plants were stressed by withholding water. The onset of drought symptoms in virus-infected plants was compared with that in the plants that were inoculated with buffer (mock-inoculated plants). Metabolite profiling analysis was conducted and compared between mock-inoculated and virus-infected plants before and after being subjected to drought stress. In all cases, virus infection delayed the appearance of drought symptoms. Beet plants infected with CMV also exhibited significantly improved tolerance to freezing. Metabolite profiling analysis showed an increase in several osmoprotectants and antioxidants in BMV-infected rice and CMV-infected beet plants before and after drought stress. These results indicate that virus infection improves plant tolerance to abiotic stress, which correlates with increased osmoprotectant and antioxidant levels in infected plants.
ISSN:0028-646X
1469-8137
DOI:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2008.02627.x