Isochorismate synthase (ICS) converts chorismate into isochorismate, a precursor of primary and secondary metabolites including salicylic acid (SA). SA plays important roles in responses to stress conditions in plants. Many studies have suggested that the function of plant ICSs is regulated at the transcriptional level. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the expression of AtICS1 is induced by stress cond...

Plant RNA-dependent RNA Polymerase 1 (RDR1) is an important element of the RNA silencing pathway in the plant defense against viruses. RDR1 expression can be elicited by viral infection and salicylic acid (SA), but the mechanisms of signaling during this process remains undefined. The involvement of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and nitric oxide (NO) in RDR1 induction in the compatible interactions ...

Tobamovirus is a group of viruses that have become serious pathogens of crop plants. As part of a study informing risk of wild plant virus spill over to crops, we investigated the capacity of a solanaceous-infecting tobamovirus from an isolated indigenous flora to adapt to new exotic hosts. Yellow tailflower mild mottle virus (YTMMV) (genus Tobamovirus, family Virgaviridae) was isolated from a ...

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades play pivotal roles in plant innate immunity. Overexpression of StMEK1(DD), a constitutively active MAPK kinase that activates salicylic acid-induced protein kinase (SIPK) and wound-induced protein kinase (WIPK), provokes hypersensitive response-like cell death in Nicotiana benthamiana. Here we purified a 51-kD MAPK, which was activated in potato ...

Golgi-resident type-II membrane proteins are asymmetrically distributed across the Golgi stack. The intrinsic features of the protein that determine its subcompartment-specific concentration are still largely unknown. Here, we used a series of chimeric proteins to investigate the contribution of the cytoplasmic, transmembrane and stem region of Nicotiana benthamiana N-acetylglucosaminyltransfer...

The cucumovirus, cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), requires both the 3a movement protein (MP) and the capsid protein (CP) for cell-to-cell movement. Replacement of the MP of CMV with the MP of the umbravirus, groundnut rosette virus (GRV), which does not encode a CP, resulted in a hybrid virus, CMV(ORF4), which could move cell to cell in Nicotiana tabacum and long distance in N. benthamiana. After r...

A Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV)-derived vector was used to express a native Human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) L1 gene in Nicotiana benthamiana by means of infectious in vitro RNA transcripts inoculated onto N. benthamiana plants. HPV-16 L1 protein expression was quantitated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) after concentration of the plant extract. We estimated that the L1 product ...

The levels of population diversity of three related Sindbis-like plant viruses, Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), and Cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV), in infections of a common host, Nicotiana benthamiana, established from genetically identical viral RNA were examined. Despite probably having a common evolutionary ancestor, the three viruses maintained different leve...

Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl China virus spreads together with its invasive vector, the silverleaf whitefly B biotype, which exhibits higher growth rates on infected plants. Previous studies indicate that the virus satellite gene βC1 accounts for the visible symptoms of infection and inhibits the constitutive expression of jasmonic acid (JA)--a phytohormone involved in plant defense against whitefli...

In comparison to single infections, co-infection of Nicotiana benthamiana with Potato virus X (PVX) and Potato virus Y (PVY) or Plum pox virus (PPV), resulted in increased systemic symptoms (synergism in pathology). Previous studies have shown that virus infections affected the accumulation of various microRNAs (miRNAs) and miRNA target genes. Our studies revealed that double infection by PVX a...