The novel viral vectors PVX-CP AltMV and PVXdt-CP AltMV are superexpressors of the capsid protein (CP). These viral vectors were constructed on the basis of the potato virus X (PVX) genome andAlternantheramosaic virus (AltMV) CP gene. The expression, based on the hybrid viral vectors, is genetically safe, since the systemic transport and formation of infective viral particles are blocked. CP Al...

We compared infection of Nicotiana benthamiana plants by the positive-sense RNA viruses Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), Potato virus Y (PVY), and by a Potato virus X (PVX) vector, the latter either unaltered or expressing the CMV 2b protein or the PVY HCPro suppressors of silencing, at 25°C vs. 30°C, or at standard (~401 parts per million, ppm) vs. elevated (970 ppm) CO2 levels. We also assessed t...

Genes encoding plant nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NB-LRR) proteins confer dominant resistance to diverse pathogens. The wild-type potato NB-LRR protein Rx confers resistance against a single strain of potato virus X (PVX), whereas LRR mutants protect against both a second PVX strain and the distantly related poplar mosaic virus (PopMV). In one of the Rx mutants there was a cost to th...

Plant viral-based expression system offers an alternative tool for the expression of various target proteins via stable transformation or transient expression in plants. In transient expression strategy, generation of in vitro viral transcripts through complete linearization of the recombinant vector containing the cloned gene is crucial to ensure the success of gene expression in plants. Hence...

During infection, many RNA viruses produce characteristic inclusion bodies that contain both viral and host components. These structures were first described over a century ago and originally termed "X-bodies," as their function was not immediately appreciated. Whilst some inclusion bodies may represent cytopathic by-products of viral protein over-accumulation, X-bodies have emerged as virus "f...

The effect of virus-host interactions on subsequent generations is poorly understood. The evaluation of the effects of viral infection on inheritance of quantitative traits in the progeny of infected plants and elucidation of a possible relationship between chiasma frequency in the infected plants and variability of traits in the progeny were investigated. The current study involved genotypes o...

The avirulence gene Avr4 conditions avirulence of the biotrophic fungus Cladosporium fulvum on tomato genotypes carrying resistance gene Cf-4 (MM-Cf4). Strains of the fungus that circumvent Cf-4-specific resistance show various single point mutations in the coding region of the Avr4 gene. Similar to expression of the Avr4 gene, expression of the various virulent avr4 alleles is specifically ind...

One of the most severe symptoms caused by compatible plant-virus interactions is systemic necrosis, which shares common attributes with the hypersensitive response to incompatible pathogens. Although several studies have identified viral symptom determinants responsible for systemic necrosis, mechanistic models of how they contribute to necrosis in infected plants remain scarce. Here, we examin...