Roossinck Lab
Research
- We are interested in virus evolution and ecology in host disease and health. We use plant and fungal viruses as model systems. The fundamental questions we are addressing are:
- How and why would a virus become a pathogen?
- What is the role of viruses in natural systems?
- What are the molecular mechanisms of virus evolution?
Our model viruses: We use Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) as a model for many of our studies (Roossinck, 2001). CMV is a species in the genus Cucumovirus and the family Bromoviridae. CMV is a plus-sense RNA virus with a divided genome. It infects about 1200 species of plants, which is the broadest host range of any known virus. RNA 1 (about 3400 nt) encodes the 1a protein that is involved in replication and has the motifs of a methyl transferase (presumed to provide the 5' cap structure to the genomic RNAs) and a helicase. RNA 2 (about 3000 nt) encodes the 2a protein with a classic GDD RNA dependent RNA polymerase motif, and the 2b protein that is involved in suppression of host gene silencing. RNA 3 (about 2200 nt) encodes the movement protein, required for cell-to-cell and systemic movement, and the coat protein that encapsidates the RNA. The open reading frames of CMV exhibit a modular type of evolution (Roossinck, 2002). Sometimes CMV strains harbor a parasitic RNA called the satellite RNA (satRNA). The satRNAs are small (about 330-400 nt) and do not appear to encode any proteins. They are highly structured (Rodríguez-Alvarado and Roossinck, 1997), have a variety of effects on the virus and the host, and make excellent reporters for disease and evolution.
Other models we use are Cowpea chlorotic mottle virus, a relative of CMV, and an array of fungal viruses.
Personnel
Roossinck, M. J., Sabanadzovic, S., Okada, M., & Valverde, R. (In Press).The remarkable evolutionary history of endornaviruses. Journal of General Virology. 92, doi:10.1099/vir.0.034702-0.
Okada, R., Kiyota, E., Sabanadzovic, S., Moriyama, H., Fukuhara, T., Saha, P., Roossinck, M. J., Severin, A., & Valverde, R. (2011). Bell pepper endornavirus: molecular and biological properties and occurrence in the genus Capsicum. Journal of General Virology, 92 (11), 2664-2673 doi:10.1099/vir.0.034686-0.
Roossinck, M. J. (2011). The big unknown: plant virus biodiversity. Current Opinion in Virology, 1 (1), 63-67 doi:10.1016/j.coviro.2011.05.022.
Roossinck, M. J. (2011). The good viruses: viral mutualistic symbioses . Nature Reviews Microbiology, 9, 99-108 DOI:10.1038/nrmicro2491 .
Roossinck, M. J. (2011). Changes in population dynamics in mutualistic versus pathogenic viruses. Viruses, 3 (special issue), 12-19 DOI:10.3390/v3010012.
Search PubMed- Bottlenecks and population dynamics of RNA virus quasispecies
- Analysis of the fidelity of CMV RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp)
- Symbiosis in mixed infections of plant viruses
- Viruses of mutualistic endophytic fungi; novel viruses with potentially interesting biological properties
- Biodiversity inventories of plant viruses
- Genetic analysis of the necrosis phenotype induced by CMV/satellite RNA (satRNA) in tomato plants
- The effect of animal anti-apoptosis gene products on satRNA-induced programmed cell death (PCD) in tomato
- Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) to assess genes that are involved in the prevention of PCD or necrosis in plants
