Roles of Arabidopsis cyclin-dependent kinase C complexes in cauliflower mosaic virus infection, plant growth, and development

The C-terminal domain (CTD) of RNA polymerase II is phosphorylated during the transcription cycle by three cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs): CDK7, CDK8, and CDK9. CDK9 and its interacting cyclin T partners belong to the positive transcription elongation factor b (P-TEFb) complexes, which phosphorylate the CTD to promote transcription elongation. We report that Arabidopsis thaliana CDK9- like proteins, CDKC; 1 and CDKC; 2, and their interacting cyclin T partners, CYCT1;4 and CYCT1;5, play important roles in infection with Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV). cdkc;2 and cyct1;5 knockout mutants are highly resistant and cdkc; 2 cyct1; 5 double mutants are extremely resistant to CaMV. The mutants respond normally to other types of plant viruses that do not replicate by reverse transcription. Expression of a reporter gene driven by the CaMV 35S promoter is markedly reduced in the cdkc; 2 and cyct1; 5 mutants, indicating that the kinase complexes are important for transcription from the viral promoter. Loss of function of CDKC;1/CDKC;2 or CYCT1;4/CYCT1;5 results in complete resistance to CaMV as well as altered leaf and flower growth, trichome development, and delayed flowering. These results establish Arabidopsis CDKC kinase complexes as important host targets of CaMV for transcriptional activation of viral genes and critical regulators of plant growth and development.