Distribution of Cylindrical Inclusion, Amorphous Inclusion and Capsid Proteins of Watermelon Mosaic Virus 2 in Systemically Infected Pumpkin Leaves

• Published in: Journal of general virology 1989-05, Vol.70 (5), p.1085-1091
• Main Authors: Suzuki, Nobuhiro, Kudo, Toshio, Shirako, Yukio, Ehara, Yoshio, Tachibana, Takehiko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: watermelon mosaic virus 2
• ISSN: 0022-1317; 1465-2099
• DOI: 10.1099/0022-1317-70-5-1085

1 Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture 2 Clinical Immunology Section, College of Medical Sciences and 3 Department of Immunology, Research Institute for Tuberculosis and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai 980, Japan Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) were prepared against the cylindrical inclusion protein (CIP), amorphous inclusion protein (AIP) and capsid protein (CP) of watermelon mosaic virus 2 (WMV2). Using the MAbs, CIP, AIP and CP were detected, roughly quantitatively, in WMV2-infected pumpkin leaves showing various symptoms by using electroblot-ELISA. From symptomless leaves and most dark green areas in the mosaic pattern no protein or small amounts of the three proteins were detected, but from most yellow areas in the mosaic almost equal amounts of each protein were detected in abundance. Leaves showing mild vein-yellowing and vein-clearing (respectively, the first and second leaves of the plants tested) contained AIP and CP in large amounts, but little CIP. On the other hand, expanding leaves contained CIP and AIP in large quantities, but CP in traces only. Therefore the distributions of CIP, AIP and CP in pumpkin plants were very uneven, but correlated with symptoms. In addition, the ratio of the concentrations of CIP, AIP and CP varied from tissue to tissue. Keywords: WMV2, inclusion proteins, capsid protein Present address: Laboratory of Plant Genetic Engineering, Biotechnology Institute, Akita Prefectural College of Agriculture, Ohgata, Akita 010-04, Japan. > Present address: Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, U.S.A. Received 6 September 1988; accepted 9 January 1989.