Figure 3: NIa-Pro localization to the vacuole occurs only when aphids are given access to plants.
From: A viral protease relocalizes in the presence of the vector to promote vector performance
(a) Images show confocal projections of N. benthamiana agroinfiltrated leaves with free GFP (top panel) or GFP:NIa-Pro (lower panel). Separate leaves were infested with aphids for 2, 6 or 24 h (middle panels) and a set of leaves were left uninfested as a control (left panel). For the reversion (right panel), all aphids were removed after 24 h of infestation, and the leaves were observed after a 2 h recovery period. GFP:NIa-Pro relocalizes from the nucleus (white arrows) to form cytoplasmic aggregates after 6 h (dashed arrows) and then diffuses into the vacuole after 24 h (dashed arrow). When the aphids were removed, GFP:NIa-Pro was observed in the nucleus again (white arrow). The free GFP control does not show relocalization with any treatments. (b) The percentage of cells with GFP in the cytoplasm for each of the treatments. (c) The image represents a western blot from leaf extracts expressing free GFP or GFP:NIa-Pro before aphid infestation, after 24 h of aphid infestation or after the 2 h recovery period (reversion), and incubated with a GFP antibody. The western blot shows that the phenotype in the presence of aphids and after reversion is not due to the cleaved GFP. (mean±s.e. of N=6, letters represent significant differences, ANOVA and Tukey’s honest significant difference post hoc, P<0.05). Scale bars, 20 μm.
