ABILITY OF TOBACCO STREAK VIRUS COAT PROTEIN TO SUBSTITUTE FOR LATE FUNCTIONS OF ALFALFA MOSAIC-VIRUS COAT PROTEIN

The coat protein (CP) of tobacco streak virus (TSV) can substitute for the early function of alfalfa mosaic virus (AlMV) CP in genome activa tion. Replacement of the CP gene in AlMV RNA 3 with the TSV CP gene an d analysis of the replication of the chimeric RNA indicated that the T SV CP could not substitute for the function of AlMV CP in asymmetric p lus-strand RNA accumulation but could encapsidate the chimeric RNA and permitted a low level of cell-to-cell transport.