Modifications in Tissue and Cell Ultrastructure as Elements of Immunity-Like Reaction in Chenopodium quinoa against Prune Dwarf Virus (PDV)

Prune dwarf virus (PDV) is a plant RNA viral pathogen in many orchard trees worldwide. Our knowledge about resistance genes or resistant reactions of plant hosts to PDV is scant. To fill in part of this gap, an aim of this study was to investigate reactions to PDV infection in a model host, Chenopodium quinoa. Our investigations concentrated on morphological and ultrastructural changes after inoculation with PDV strain 0599. It turned out that PDV infection can cause deformations in host cells but also induce changes in the organelles, such as chloroplasts in inoculated leaves. Moreover, we also demonstrated specific reactions/changes, which could be associated with both types of vascular tissue capable of effectively blocking the systemic spread of PDV to upper leaves. Furthermore, the relative amount of virus, P1 protein deposition, and movement protein (MP) gene expression consequently decreased in PDV-inoculated leaves.