title: Expression of the gene encoding the coat protein of cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) strain WL appears to provide protection to tobacco plants against infection by several different CMV strains.
abstract: The gene (cp) encoding the coat protein (CP) of cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) strain WL (CMV-WL, which belongs to CMV subgroup II) was custom polymerase chain reaction (CPCR)-engineered for expression as described by Slightom [Gene 100 (1991) 251-255]. CPCR amplification was used to add 5'- and 3'-flanking NcoI sites to the CMV-WL cp gene, and cp was cloned into the expression vector, pUC18cpexp. This CMV-WL cp expression cassette was transferred into the genome of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Havana 423) via the Agrobacterium T-DNA transfer mechanism. R0 plants that express the CMV-WL cp gene were subcloned, propagated, and challenge-inoculated with CMV-WL. Several R0 plant lines showed excellent protection against CMV-WL infection; however, plants found to accumulate the highest CP levels did not show the highest degree of protection. Thus in our case, CP levels appear not to be a useful predictor of the degree of protection. Plants from the best protected CMV-WL cp gene-expressing R0 tobacco lines were also inoculated with CMV strains belonging to the other major CMV subgroup (subgroup I), CMV-C and CMV-Chi, and compared in a parallel experiment with a transgenic tobacco plant line that expresses the CMV-C cp gene. Plants expressing the CMV-WL cp gene appeared to show a broader spectrum of protection against infection by the various CMV strains than plants expressing the CMV-C cp gene.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, Cornell University, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva 14456.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Namba
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Ling
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gonsalves
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gonsalves
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Slightom
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D002213:Capsid / Q000235:genetics*; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000235:genetics; D005814:Genes, Viral; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009029:Mosaic Viruses / Q000235:genetics*; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics; D010947:Plants, Toxic; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid / Q000235:genetics; D012231:Rhizobium / Q000235:genetics; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology