Subcellular dynamics of red clover necrotic mosaic virus double-stranded RNAs in infected plant cells

New evidences are emerging to support the importance of viral replication complexes (VRCs) in not only viral replication, but also viral cell-to-cell movement. Currently, how VRCs grow in size and colocalize with viral movement proteins (MPs) remains unclear. Herein, we performed live-cell imaging of red clover necrotic mosaic virus (RCNMV) dsRNA by using reporter B2-GFP plants. Tiny granules of dsRNA were formed along the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) at an early stage of infection. Importantly, the colocalization of the dsRNA granules with the virus-encoded p27 replication protein showed that these structures are components of VRCs. These granules moved throughout the cytoplasm, driven by the acto–myosin system, and coalesced with each other to form larger aggregates; the MPs were not associated with these processes. Notably, the MPs colocalized preferentially with large dsRNA aggregates, rather than with tiny dsRNA granules, suggesting that the increase in the size of VRCs promotes their colocalization with MPs. •Early dsRNA granules of RCNMV coalesced each other to form larger aggregates.•Acto-myosin system drives the intracellular movement of dsRNA granules.•Tiny dsRNA granules contain viral replicase, while associate less with MP.•Maturation of VRCs could be an important process for viral movement.