Specific manipulation of the plant RNA splicing machinery by geminiviruses (C08*)

• Subject Area: Organismic Interactions, Chemical Ecology and Microbiomes of Plant Systems ; Plant Cell and Developmental Biology
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 232631280

The contribution of alternative splicing to plant-virus interactions remains to be investigated. Using geminiviruses, we have recently found that i) a viral protein physically associates with the plant splicing machinery; ii) geminiviral transcripts are spliced and give rise to new proteins; iii) splicing is required for geminiviral replication and infection; and iv) the geminiviral infection drastically impacts the host splicing landscape. Here, we propose to investigate the biological significance of splicing during the geminiviral infection and the mechanisms underlying its co-option by geminiviruses.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1101: Molecular Encoding of Specificity in Plant Processes
• Applicant Institution: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
• Project Head: Professorin Rosa Lozano-Durán, Ph.D.