%0 Journal Article %A Guerra-Peraza, O. %A Kirk, D. %A Seltzer, V. %A Veluthambi, K. %A Schmit, A. C. %A Hohn, T. %A Herzog, E. %T Coat proteins of Rice tungro bacilliform virus and Mungbean yellow mosaic virus contain multiple nuclear-localization signals and interact with importin α %D 2005 %J Journal of General Virology, %V 86 %N 6 %P 1815-1826 %@ 1465-2099 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/vir.0.80920-0 %I Microbiology Society, %X Transport of the viral genome into the nucleus is an obligatory step in the replication cycle of plant pararetro- and geminiviruses. In both these virus types, the multifunctional coat protein (CP) is thought to be involved in this process. Here, a green fluorescent protein tagging approach was used to demonstrate nuclear import of the CPs of Rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV) and Mungbean yellow mosaic virus - Vigna (MYMV) in Nicotiana plumbaginifolia protoplasts. In both cases, at least two nuclear localization signals (NLSs) were identified and characterized. The NLSs of RTBV CP are located within both N- and C-terminal regions (residues 479KRPK/497KRK and 744KRK/758RRK), and those of MYMV CP within the N-terminal part (residues 3KR and 41KRRR). The MYMV and RTBV CP NLSs resemble classic mono- and bipartite NLSs, respectively. However, the N-terminal MYMV CP NLS and both RTBV CP NLSs show peculiarities in the number and position of basic residues. In vitro pull-down assays revealed interaction of RTBV and MYMV CPs with the nuclear import factor importin α, suggesting that both CPs are imported into the nucleus via an importin α-dependent pathway. The possibility that this pathway could serve for docking of virions to the nucleus is discussed. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/vir.0.80920-0