Table 1. The expression and RNA silencing suppression capability of the mutated NSs proteins of Watermelon silver mottle virus, with modifications in conserved aa residues in the highly conserved (CR1-6) regions or the common epitope (CE), analyzed by agroinfiltration in leaf tissues of N. benthamiana plants.
| NSs mutated protein a | Conserved region (CR) | Protein expression | RNA silencing suppression |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wild type | + | + | |
| Y15A | CR1 | - | - |
| Y27A | CR1 | + | - |
| H113A | CE | - | - |
| G180A | CR3 | - | - |
| R181A | CR3 | + | - |
| R212A | CR3 | - | - |
| Y398A | CR6 | - | - |
| G16A | CR1 | + | + |
| D25A | CR1 | + | + |
| E61A/D62A | CR1 | + | + |
| K64A | CR2 | + | + |
| E67A/E69A | CR2 | + | + |
| D86A | CR2 | + | + |
| C108A | CE | + | + |
| K109A | CE | + | + |
| K199A | CR4 | + | + |
| E291A | CR4 | + | + |
| R292A | CR4 | + | + |
| I342A | CR4 | + | + |
| K369A | CR5 | + | + |
| E374A | CR5 | + | + |
| T403A | CR6 | + | + |
a Bold proteins indicate the aa residues are highly conserved in NSs proteins of all tospoviruses of Asia and Euro-America types from databases. The others are only from Asia type tospoviruses.