L. Silvarosales et al., ANALYSIS OF TRANSGENIC TOBACCO PLANTS EXPRESSING A TRUNCATED FORM OF A POTYVIRUS COAT PROTEIN NUCLEOTIDE-SEQUENCE, Plant molecular biology, 24(6), 1994, pp. 929-939
Transgenic Nicotiana tabacum cv. Burley 49 plants were generated which
expressed a tobacco etch virus (TEV) coat protein (CP) gene construct
containing a stop codon positioned at codon 147. This gene construct
was expected to produce a TEV CP lacking the carboxy-terminal 118 amin
o acids of the full-length 264 amino acid CP. TEV CP gene transcripts
of the expected size could be detected in transgenic plants but the ex
pected truncated CP could not be detected. Ten independent transgenic
lines expressing this form of the TEV CP gene were examined in detail.
Two transgenic plant lines were resistant to aphid- or mechanically t
ransmitted TEV and one line was highly resistant. Protoplasts derived
from the highly resistant plant line did not support virus replication
. The data suggested that the expression of this mutated form of the T
EV CP gene could interfere with TEV replication and displayed features
associated with RNA-mediated virus resistance.