Recent studies on evolutionarily distant viral groups have shown that the number of viral genomes that establish cell infection after cell-to-cell transmission is unexpectedly small (1-20 genomes). This aspect of viral infection appears to be important for the adaptation and survival of viruses. To clarify how the number of viral genomes that establish cell infection is determined, we developed...

Requirements for capped leader sequences for use during transcription initiation by tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) were tested using mutant alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) RNAs as specific cap donors in transgenic Nicotiana tabacum plants expressing the AMV replicase proteins. Using a series of AMV RNA3 mutants modified in either the 5'-non-translated region or in the subgenomic RNA4 leader, seque...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play vital roles in regulating plant growth and development. Recent work has shown that miRNA-mediated regulation of cellular mRNA expression is involved in pathogen-host interactions. However, knowledge about the timing and spatial regulation of plant miRNA expression is still limited. Here, we use stem-loop real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction to quanti...

This chapter presents a summary of the results of experiments conducted in Alabama and Florida over a five year period to evaluate strains of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) for induction of resistance against insect-transmitted diseases on field-grown cucumber and tomato. Experiments with cucumber demonstrated that treatment with PGPR significantly reduced the incidence of wilt sym...

The effects of suppressing deoxyhypusine synthase (DHS) have been examined in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum cv UCT5). DHS mediates the first of two sequential enzymatic reactions that activate eukaryotic translation initiation factor-5A (eIF-5A) by converting a conserved Lys to the unusual amino acid, deoxyhypusine. DHS protein levels were suppressed in transgenic plants by expressing the 3'-unt...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) suppress the transcriptional and post-transcriptional expression of genes in plants. Several miRNA families target genes encoding nucleotide-binding site-leucine-rich repeat (NB-LRR) plant innate immune receptors. The fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici causes vascular wilt disease in tomato. We explored a role for miRNAs in tomato defense against F. oxysporum using ...

Southern bean mosaic virus (SBMV) and Tomato ringspot virus (TomRV) were compared with regard to possible ways of inter- and intracellular translocation. The pore complexes in the nuclear membranes of nuclei in leaf palisade and mesophyll cells of several plant species commonly used in plant virus research were studied. The pore structure resembled that earlier described. The diameter of the po...