OsRDR6 plays role in host defense against double-stranded RNA virus, Rice Dwarf Phytoreovirus

RNAi is a major antiviral defense response in plant and animal model systems. RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 6 (RDR6) is an essential component of RNAi, which plays an important role in the resistance against viruses in the model plants. We found previously that rice RDR6 (OsRDR6) functioned in the defense against Rice stripe virus (RSV), and Rice Dwarf Phytoreovirus (RDV) infection resulted in down-regulation of expression of RDR6. Here we report our new findings on the function of OsRDR6 against RDV. Our result showed that down-regulation of OsRDR6 through the antisense (OsRDR6AS) strategy increased rice susceptibility to RDV infection while over-expression of OsRDR6 had no effect on RDV infection. The accumulation of RDV vsiRNAs was reduced in the OsRDR6AS plants. In the OsRDR6 over-expressed plants, the levels of OsRDR6 RNA transcript and protein were much higher than that in the control plants. Interestingly, the accumulation level of OsRDR6 protein became undetectable after RDV infection. This finding indicated that the translation and/or stability of OsRDR6 protein were negatively impacted upon RDV infection. This new finding provides a new light on the function of RDR6 in plant defense response and the cross-talking between factors encoded by host plant and double-stranded RNA viruses.