Activity 1.1.1.9 “Post-doctoral Research” of the Specific Objective 1.1.1 “Strengthening research and innovative capacities and introduction of advanced technologies in the common R&D system” of the European Union’s Cohesion Policy Programme for 2021-2027

Project title: Structural studies of ryegrass mottle virus-encoded proteins

Project No.: 1.1.1.9/LZP/1/24/071

Period: 1 July 2025 – 30 June 2028

Project costs: The total eligible costs of the research proposal is EUR 184 140,00 of which EUR 156 519,00 is funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

Principal Investigator: PhD Jēkabs Fridmanis

Project summary:

The proposed study is Fundamental and non-economic.

Plant-infecting viruses cause diminished crop yields in industry and thus have a significant impact on the global economy. Despite this, most of them are poorly studied and plant virus infection mechanisms are not well understood. The aim of this project is to conduct in-depth structural and functional analyses of proteins derived from ryegrass mottle virus (RGMoV), a member of the Sobemovirus genera, known to infect cereal crops, including wheat, barley, and oat. To date, only limited structural information is available for RGMoV proteins. In the project, the interaction and localization analysis of RGMoV proteins will be performed using fluorescent tags in oat protoplast system and/or in planta inoculated with virus icDNA. After the localization studies, the main part of the project will focus on the RGMoV protein and their determined complexes structural characterization using three high resolution methods of structural biology – nuclear magnetic resonance, crystallography, and cryo-electron microscopy. Understanding the studied molecular intricacies of sobemovirus infection would not only potentially allow for us to develop antiviral drugs, but also potentially modify the crops plants to make them immune against sobemoviruses.

Key words: Plant viruses, sobemovirus, RGMoV, VPg, P16.

Information published 01.07.2025.