PRESENTATION OF HETEROLOGOUS PEPTIDES ON PLANT-VIRUSES - GENETICS, STRUCTURE, AND FUNCTION

Capsid proteins of a number of plant viruses are permissive to genetic modifications in which foreign polypeptides are inserted in exposed l oops or at their C termini. Plant viruses with these genetic alteratio ns often grow at wild-type levels, providing gram quantities of modifi ed viruses. Presented polypeptides studied most extensively correspond to antigenic epitopes of animal viruses and in some cases appropriate ly altered plant viruses generate neutralizing antibodies to the cogna te animal vints when the plant virus is used as a vaccine. Structure-b ased analyses of these animal-plant virus chimeras have led to rationa l alterations to the presentation in efforts to increase the efficacy of the presented peptide.