Enhanced viral pathogenesis associated with a virulent mutant virus or a virulent satellite RNA correlates with reduced virion accumulation and abundance of free coat protein.

SatC, a chimeric satellite RNA associated with Turnip crinkle virus (TCV), intensifies the symptoms of TCV on all symptomatic hosts yet attenuates the symptoms of a TCV mutant that expresses low levels of a defective coat protein (CP). We now report that TCV virion levels were substantially reduced by the presence of satC or when two amino acids were inserted at the N-terminus of the CP, resulting in similarly enhanced symptoms. Since the TCV CP is a suppressor of RNA silencing, increased levels of resultant free CP could augment silencing suppression, resulting in enhanced colonization of the plant.