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In addition to well-known roles in RNA metabolism, the nucleolus and Cajal bodies (CBs), both located within the nucleus, are involved in plant responses to biotic and abiotic stress. Previously we showed that plants in which expression of the CB protein coilin is downregulated are more susceptible to certain viruses including tobacco rattle virus (TRV), suggesting a role of coilin in antiviral defence. Experiments with coilin-deficient plants and the deletion mutant of the TRV 16K protein showed that both 16K and coilin are required for restriction of systemic TRV infection. The potential mechanisms of coilin-mediated antiviral defence were elucidated via experiments involving co-immunoprecipitation, use of NahG transgenic plants deficient in salicylic acid (SA) accumulation, measurement of endogenous SA concentrations and assessment of SA-responsive gene expression. Here we show that TRV 16K interacts with and relocalizes coilin to the nucleolus. In wild-type plants these events are accompanied by activation of SA-responsive gene expression and restriction of TRV systemic infection. By contrast, viral systemic spread was enhanced in NahG plants, implicating SA in these processes. Our findings suggest that coilin is involved in plant defence, responding to TRV infection by recognition of the TRV-encoded 16K protein and activating SA-dependent defence pathways., (© 2019 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2019 New Phytologist Trust.)