Plants transformed with a tobacco mosaic virus nonstructural gene sequence are resistant to the virus

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 1990-08, Vol.87 (16), p.6311-6315
• Main Authors: Golemboski, D.B. (Cornell University, Ithaca, NY), Lomonossoff, G.P, Zaitlin, M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; cloning; Cloning, Molecular; DISEASE RESISTANCE; DNA; DNA, Viral - genetics; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genes; Genes, Viral; GENETIC TRANSFORMATION; Immunity, Innate - genetics; Leaves; Microbiology; Molecular Sequence Data; MUTANT; MUTANTES; MUTANTS; Nicotiana - genetics; Nicotiana - microbiology; NICOTIANA TABACUM; nonstructural proteins; nucleotide sequence; Nucleotides; oligonucleotides; Open reading frames; Plants; Plants, Toxic; Plasmids; Replicative cycle, interference, host-virus relations, pathogenicity, miscellaneous strains; RESISTANCE AUX MALADIES; RESISTENCIA A LA ENFERMEDAD; Restriction Mapping; RNA; RNA, Viral - genetics; RNA, Viral - isolation & purification; STRAINS; Three prime untranslated regions; TOBACCO MOSAIC VIRUS; Tobacco Mosaic Virus - genetics; Tobacco Mosaic Virus - pathogenicity; TRANSFORMACION GENETICA; transformation; TRANSFORMATION GENETIQUE; Transformation, Genetic; Transgenic plants; Virology; VIRUS DE LA MOSAIQUE DU TABAC; VIRUS DEL MOSAICO DEL TABACO; Viruses
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.87.16.6311

Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi nn plants were transformed with nucleotides 3472-4916 of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) strain U1. This sequence contains all but the three 3' terminal nucleotides of the TMV 54-kDa gene, which encodes a putative component of the replicase complex. These plants were resistant to infection when challenged with either TMV U1 virions or TMV U1 RNA at concentrations of up to 500 μg/ml or 300 μg/ml, respectively, the highest concentrations tested. Resistance was also exhibited when plants were inoculated at 100 μg/ml with the closely related TMV mutant YSI/1 but was not shown in plants challenged at the same concentrations with the more distantly related TMV strains U2 or L or cucumber mosaic virus. Although the copy number of the 54-kDa gene sequence varied in individual transformants from 1 to ≈ 5, the level of resistance in plants was not dependent on the number of copies of the 54-kDa gene sequence integrated. The transformed plants accumulated a 54-kDa gene sequence-specific RNA transcript of the expected size, but no protein product was detected.