°Jess publishes paper on mutations in the WG and GW motifs of the three RNA silencing suppressors of GFLV.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1451285/full

GFLV VSRs include the RNA1-encoded protein 1A and the putative helicase protein 1B^Hel, as well as their fused form (1AB^Hel). Key characteristics underlying the suppression function of the GFLV VSRs are unknown. In this study, we explored the role of the conserved tryptophan-glycine (WG) motif in protein 1A and glycine-tryptophan (GW) motif in protein 1B^Hel in their systemic RNA silencing suppression ability by co-infiltrating Nicotiana benthamiana 16c line plants with a GFP silencing construct and a wildtype or a mutant GFLV VSR. We analyzed and compared wildtype and mutant GFLV VSRs for their (i) efficiency at suppressing RNA silencing, (ii) ability to limit siRNA accumulation, (iii) modulation of the expression of six host genes involved in RNA silencing, (iv) impact on virus infectivity in planta, and (v) variations in predicted protein structures using molecular and biochemical assays, as well as bioinformatics tools such as AlphaFold2.