title: Morphology and stability changes of recombinant TMV particles caused by a cysteine residue in the foreign peptide fused to the coat protein.
abstract: In the studies of expressing various foreign peptides using a TMV-based vector, a portion of morphologically altered progeny viral particles from some recombinant TMV constructs were detected by transmission electron microscopy in the first systematically infected upper leaves, but not in the fully expanded inoculated leaves, from infected tobacco plants. Furthermore, in vitro stability of such recombinant TMV constructs were lower than those of the wild type and other recombinant TMV constructs able to form regular rod-shape virions, hence causing the lower yields of recombinant viral particles purified from the infected tobacco plants. Our studies revealed that the presence of a cysteine residue in the foreign peptides, regardless of its position and the peptide sequence, was directly related to changes in the morphology and stability of these TMV recombinants.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Bio-Energy Crops, School of Life Sciences, Shanghai University, 99 Shangda Road, Shanghai 200444, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qiaoli
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Lubin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Mangmang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Qingqi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Rentao
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Zhengkai
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D003545:Cysteine / Q000737:chemistry*; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000821:virology*; D014027:Tobacco Mosaic Virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014771:Virion / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000648:ultrastructure*
chemical_list: D036022:Capsid Proteins; D010455:Peptides; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D003545:Cysteine