Movement Proteins

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TMV MP30 localizes to plasmodesmata when it is fused with green fluorescent protein (GFP). Image of a confocal microscope .

Movement proteins (also "movement" proteins; to be distinguished from the motor proteins of cellular organisms ) is a name for non-structural proteins of plant viruses , on which the ability of the virus depends to spread from cell to cell and thus successfully infect the plant . In contrast to cells from the animal kingdom , plant cells have robust cell walls that viruses cannot easily break through. One or more movement proteins are, if not many of all plant viruses expressed .

The movement protein of the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) has been the most extensively researched to date.

Plant viruses can also be transported over long distances via vascular bundles via the phloem of their host plant.

Plant virus movement between cells

Most plant viruses move between the cells via plasmodesmata , thin, from a plasma membrane surrounded plasma strands that create through the cell wall of a plant cell to the neighbor cell through a connection. Plasmodesmata normally only allow the passage of small, soluble molecules, such as various metabolites . Neither the virus particle nor virus nucleic acids can pass through plasmodesmata without help.

Function of the movement proteins

Movement proteins alter plasmodesma through two well understood molecular mechanisms. The movement proteins of many plant viruses form a transport tubule for mature plant viruses within the pore of the plasmodesma. Examples of viruses that this mechanism are using Cowpea Mosaic Virus (CPMV) and the tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) . The second mechanism results in the ribonucleo-protein complex being transported through the plasmodesma into the neighboring cell. To do this, the movement protein forms a link with the genome of the virus and coats it. TMV's 30K Da Movement Protein uses this mechanism, although it could play other roles in the infection.

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See also