Title Identification and Characterization of Host Factors Interacting with Bombyx mori Nucleopolyhedrovirus ORF8
Author WonKyung Kang1, Susumu Katsuma2*, Noriko Matsuda-Imai1, Masaaki Kurihara1, Toyoshi Yoshiga1,3, Toru Shimada2, and Shogo Matsumoto1
Address 1Molecular Entomology Laboratory, RIKEN ASI, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako 351-0198, Japan, 2Department of Agricultural and Environmental Biology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Yayoi 1-1-1, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan, 3Present address: Faculty of Agriculture, Saga University, Saga 840-8502, Japan
Bibliography Journal of Microbiology, 50(3),469-477, 2012,
DOI
Key Words BmNPV, Bm8, BV/ODV-E26, Ac16, baculovirus
Abstract The orf8 gene (Bm8) in Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) is one of 17 genes unique to group I NPVs and is expressed as an early gene. We have reported that Bm8 may play an important role during viral infection and that Bm8 protein co-localized with IE1 to specific nuclear foci throughout infection. It was also demonstrated that both IE1 and BmNPV hr facilitate this localization of Bm8. To investigate further, host proteins interacting with Bm8 were screened using a yeast two-hybrid system. We identified 6 host clones as Bm8-interacting partners from three cDNA libraries derived from BmN cells or B. mori larvae. Further assays showed that the N-terminal region of Bm8 is important for the interaction with most host clones and that two of the clones can associate with IE1. Cloning and sequencing of full-length cDNAs revealed that most of the clones potentially encode either membrane-bound proteins or secreted proteins. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed that some of these host genes were slightly induced during the early stage of infection in BmN cells, and that the expression of all genes was markedly reduced during the late stage of infection. Generation of mutant BmNPVs over-expressing these host genes also identified a gene that potentially functions as a negative factor during BmNPV infection. These features of Bm8-interacting host proteins strongly support that Bm8 is a multifunctional protein involved in multiple signaling pathways in host cells.