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Modification of the increased accumulation of plants microRNAs during the infection by tobacco mosaic virus Volume 17, issue 2, Mars-Avril 2013

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Authors
University of Basel, Botanical Institute of the University of Basel, Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, Part of the Swiss Plant Science Web, Basel, Suisse

RNA silencing is central to the struggle between plants and viral pathogens. To counteract RNA silencing, viruses have evolved suppressor proteins able to block the mechanism at different stages. Virus-infected plants generally develop viral symptoms characterized by morphological changes. Recent works have shown that viral symptoms have at least two different origins related to sRNAs: these can be either due to the targeting of host genes by siRNAs of viral origins (vsiRNAs) or to alteration of the normal functioning of certain host sRNAs (endogenous sRNAs) important for plant development. Although Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) is one of the most studied plant virus worldwide, the origin of its viral symptoms as well as that of the increased accumulation of microRNAs and other sRNAs remain to be clarified. The most recent data are summarized and discussed in the present review.