A viral protein disrupts vacuolar acidification to facilitate virus infection in plants

Vacuolar acidification is essential for vacuoles in diverse physiological functions. However, its role in plant defense, and whether and how pathogens affect vacuolar acidification to promote infection remain unknown. Here, we show that Barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV) replicase gamma a, but not its mutant gamma a(R569A), directly blocks acidification of vacuolar lumen and suppresses autophagic degradation to promote viral infection in plants. These were achieved via molecular interaction between gamma a and V-ATPase catalytic subunit B2 (VHA-B2), leading to disruption of the interaction between VHA-B2 and V-ATPase catalytic subunit E (VHA-E), which impairs the membrane localization of VHA-B2 and suppresses V-ATPase activity. Furthermore, a mutant virus BSMVR569A with the R569A point mutation possesses less viral pathogenicity. Interestingly, multiple viral infections block vacuolar acidification. These findings reveal that functional vacuolar acidification is required for plant antiviral defense and disruption of vacuolar acidification could be a general viral counter-defense strategy employed by multiple viruses.