Virus factories of cauliflower mosaic virus are virion reservoirs that engage actively in vector transmission.

Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) forms two types of inclusion bodies within infected plant cells: numerous virus factories, which are the sites for viral replication and virion assembly, and a single transmission body (TB), which is specialized for virus transmission by aphid vectors. The TB reacts within seconds to aphid feeding on the host plant by total disruption and redistribution of its principal component, the viral transmission helper protein P2, onto microtubules throughout the cell. At the same time, virions also associate with microtubules. This redistribution of P2 and virions facilitates transmission and is reversible; the TB reforms within minutes after vector departure. Although some virions are present in the TB before disruption, their subsequent massive accumulation on the microtubule network suggests that they also are released from virus factories. Using drug treatments, mutant viruses, and exogenous supply of viral components to infected protoplasts, we show that virions can rapidly exit virus factories and, once in the cytoplasm, accumulate together with the helper protein P2 on the microtubule network. Moreover, we show that during reversion of this phenomenon, virions from the microtubule network can either be incorporated into the reverted TB or return to the virus factories. Our results suggest that CaMV factories are dynamic structures that participate in vector transmission by controlled release and uptake of virions during TB reaction.