Rowley, Paul A. Ho, Brandon Bushong, Sarah Johnson, Arlen L. Sawyer, Sara <i>XRN1</i> Is a Species-Specific Virus Restriction Factor in Yeasts <div><p>In eukaryotes, the degradation of cellular mRNAs is accomplished by Xrn1 and the cytoplasmic exosome. Because viral RNAs often lack canonical caps or poly-A tails, they can also be vulnerable to degradation by these host exonucleases. Yeast lack sophisticated mechanisms of innate and adaptive immunity, but do use RNA degradation as an antiviral defense mechanism. We find a highly refined, species-specific relationship between Xrn1p and the “L-A” totiviruses of different <i>Saccharomyces</i> yeast species. We show that the gene <i>XRN1</i> has evolved rapidly under positive natural selection in <i>Saccharomyces</i> yeast, resulting in high levels of Xrn1p protein sequence divergence from one yeast species to the next. We also show that these sequence differences translate to differential interactions with the L-A virus, where Xrn1p from <i>S</i>. <i>cerevisiae</i> is most efficient at controlling the L-A virus that chronically infects <i>S</i>. <i>cerevisiae</i>, and Xrn1p from <i>S</i>. <i>kudriavzevii</i> is most efficient at controlling the L-A-like virus that we have discovered within <i>S</i>. <i>kudriavzevii</i>. All Xrn1p orthologs are equivalent in their interaction with another virus-like parasite, the Ty1 retrotransposon. Thus, Xrn1p appears to co-evolve with totiviruses to maintain its potent antiviral activity and limit viral propagation in <i>Saccharomyces</i> yeasts. We demonstrate that Xrn1p physically interacts with the Gag protein encoded by the L-A virus, suggesting a host-virus interaction that is more complicated than just Xrn1p-mediated nucleolytic digestion of viral RNAs.</p></div> Ty 1 retrotransposon;L-A virus;gene XRN 1;Saccharomyces yeast species;Xrn 1p nucleolytic digestion;use RNA degradation;Xrn 1p;Species-Specific Virus Restriction Factor;lack canonical caps;Xrn 1p protein sequence divergence;Xrn 1p orthologs 2016-10-06
    https://plos.figshare.com/articles/dataset/_i_XRN1_i_Is_a_Species-Specific_Virus_Restriction_Factor_in_Yeasts/3993837
10.1371/journal.ppat.1005890