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Journal of Virology, December 2002, p. 12908-12916, Vol. 76, No. 24
0022-538X/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.76.24.12908-12916.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Scottish Crop Research Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee DD2 5DA, Scotland, United Kingdom
Received 21 May 2002/ Accepted 5 September 2002
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Infection of tobacco containing the N gene by TMV results in a hypersensitive response (HR) accompanied by generic systemic acquired resistance (SAR) that confines TMV to cells surrounding the initial site of infection (reviewed in reference 46). SAR is induced by salicylic acid (SA), which also inhibits TMV replication (13). At temperatures above 28°C, the HR and the restriction response associated with the N gene are inactive, and so TMV spreads throughout the plant. Reducing the temperature of incubation to below 28°C allows activation of the N gene, resulting in necrosis in all tissues containing TMV. The local physiological and cellular events that take place during the induction of the HR in the TMV-N gene system have been described in detail (35, 52).
The use of plant viruses as vectors for the transient expression of foreign genes in plants has attracted considerable interest (33, 48). In some instances, the reduced ability of the modified virus to spread successfully throughout the plant constitutes a limitation to this technology (16, 21, 25, 28). Considerable effort has been devoted to understanding and eliminating this constraint, often by using green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a reporter (44, 49). TMV-based vectors expressing GFP (TMV-GFP) also have been used as tools in studies of virus movement (7, 8, 9, 30, 31) as well as N gene-mediated resistance to TMV (52).
Some plant viruses can interact with each other synergistically (37). In some situations, such an interaction can lead to breakage of resistance against one of the viruses in virus pairs (reviewed in reference 4). Synergy and resistance breakage also have been observed in some instances in transgenic plants expressing genes from one of the virus pairs. In some situations, the interaction is a complementation of function associated with virus movement (14, 15, 26). In other situations, the viral transgene has been shown to encode proteins involved in the suppression of gene silencing responses and probably other plant resistance responses (3, 34, 50). In the course of studies on viral synergy, in which the effects of viral transgenes on infection by other, unrelated viruses were assessed, TMV-GFP was used to delineate the effects of RNA1 transgenes derived from Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) on virus movement in tobacco. These studies led to the discovery of a novel component of N gene-mediated resistance manifested against TMV-based vectors. Moreover, the effect of this resistance response on the movement of TMV-GFP was overcome by several CMV RNA1 transgenes.
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Other plants used here were tobacco cultivar Petite Havana SR1 nn transformed with the N gene (SR1::NN plants) (51), tobacco cultivar Samsun NN plants transformed with the nahG gene of Pseudomonas putida (17, 39), tobacco resulting from the fertilization of CMV RNA1-transgenic tobacco cultivar Samsun nn plants with pollen from SR1::NN plants, tobacco resulting from the fertilization of CMV RNA1-transgenic tobacco cultivar Samsun NN plants with pollen from nahG-transgenic tobacco cultivar Samsun NN plants, and nontransgenic Nicotiana benthamiana plants. All plants were homozygous for the above genes before crosses were made. The progeny of the NN cross between SR1::NN tobacco and CMV RNA1-transgenic tobacco cultivar Samsun nn were first assessed biologically to verify the presence of a functional N gene and a CMV RNA1 transgene (11). Plants were grown in a greenhouse or in a growth chamber at either 25 or 33°C, respectively, depending on the experiment.
Viruses. Wild-type (WT) TMV infectious transcript RNA was generated from full-length cDNA in clone pTMV004 (36). All the TMV-based expression vectors are derivatives of p30B.GFP, which expresses a chimeric virus containing a subgenomic RNA promoter for the capsid protein (CP) gene derived from strain U5 of the tobamovirus Tobacco mild green mosaic virus. The use of a duplicated subgenomic RNA promoter from a heterologous tobamovirus prevents homologous recombination between duplicated TMV CP subgenomic RNA promoters (one of them directing the expression of the inserted gene) in the expression vector (44, 49, 52). Infectious RNA transcripts from a TMV-based vector expressing free GFP (designated here TMV-GFP) were obtained from TMV-GFP 1056, a proprietary construct obtained from Large Scale Biology Corporation (Vacaville, Calif.) and derived from TMV p30B.GFP with modifications in the virus movement protein gene. Plasmid TMV.DsRed was derived from TMV-GFP 1056 after replacement of the GFP gene with the red fluorescent protein (DsRed; ClonTech) gene (obtained from S. Chapman, Scottish Crop Research Institute [SCRI]). Plasmid TMV-GFP 5725 is similar to clone p30B.GFP, except that the GFP gene was inserted into the XhoI site of the vector polylinker (obtained from S. Santa Cruz, Horticultural Research Institute, East Malling, United Kingdom). The GFP gene was deleted from plasmid TMV-GFP 1056 after linearization with XhoI and PacI and filling in with a linker fragment obtained from plasmid TMV-GFP 5725 digested with the same enzymes. This procedure gave rise to plasmid TMV 1056, harboring no additional gene but still containing two CP subgenomic RNA promoters. All plasmids were linearized with KpnI, and RNA transcripts were made by using T7 RNA polymerase.
Transcript RNAs were inoculated onto leaves of N. benthamiana. Four days after inoculation, the inoculated leaves were collected and ground in 50 mM sodium phosphate (pH 7; 1/10 [wt/vol]). The extracts were clarified by centrifugation for 5 min at 5,000 x g, and the resulting supernatants were divided into aliquots and kept at -20°C. These crude virus preparations were used for the inoculation of tobacco plants after dilution in 50 mM sodium phosphate (pH 7; 1/100 for WT TMV and 1/10 for TMV-GFP). Plants were inoculated mechanically by gently rubbing the inocula (crude virus preparations or transcript RNA) on aluminium oxide-dusted leaves. Infectious transcript RNAs of potato virus X (PVX) and PVX expressing GFP (PVX-GFP) were obtained from full-length cDNA clones pTX.P3C2 and pTXS.GFP, respectively (5, 6), by using T7 RNA polymerase after linearization with SpeI.
Detection of GFP and DsRed fluorescence. GFP-derived fluorescence images were obtained and processed as described previously (10). Whole leaves were viewed by using a Black Ray long-wave UV lamp (model B; 100 A; UV Products, Upland, Calif.). Experiments in which virus movement in the whole plant was assessed were performed at least twice, and at least five plants per treatment were used in each experiment. Higher-magnification fluorescence was detected with an epifluorescence microscope (Nikon) equipped with a fluorescein isothiocyanate-tetramethyl rhodamine isothiocyanate multiband filter (Chroma; catalog no. 51004). DsRed fluorescence was monitored with the aid of a Leica MZ FLIII fluorescence stereomicroscope equipped with a fluorescence G filter (excitation filter, 456/10 nm; barrier filter, 590 nm) (Leica, Heerbrugg, Switzerland) and coupled to a digital video camera (model KY-F55B; Photonic Science, Milham, United Kingdom).
Protoplast electroporation and nucleic acid analysis. Tobacco plants were kept for 5 days in a growth chamber at a constant temperature of 25°C and with 16 h of daylight prior to the isolation and electroporation of mesophyll protoplasts as described previously (24). Approximately 5 µg of transcript RNA was electroporated with 106 protoplasts. Protoplast cultures were kept undisturbed in a growth chamber for 24 h prior to their harvest by centrifugation at low speed. Protoplast pellets were resuspended in 300 µl of 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0)-10 mM EDTA- 2% sodium dodecyl sulfate- 0.5% 2-mercaptoethanol. The samples were then extracted with phenol, and the RNA was precipitated with ethanol.
For Northern blot hybridization analysis, total nucleic acid samples were fractionated by electrophoresis in 1% agarose gels under denaturing conditions (6% formaldehyde), blotted onto nitrocellulose membranes, and hybridized to digoxigenin-labeled RNA probes against TMV or against PVX. A probe complementary to nucleotides 999 to 2144 of the TMV genome was obtained from a subclone encompassing nucleotides 256 to 2144 (provided by P. Boevink, SCRI) by using T7 RNA polymerase after linearization with XbaI. A probe complementary to the last 157 nucleotides of the PVX genome was obtained by using T7 RNA polymerase after linearization of full-length clone pTX.P3C2 with XhoI. Blots were incubated with digoxigenin-labeled probes by following the manufacturer's instructions (Roche Diagnostics, Lewes, United Kingdom).
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Infection by TMV-GFP failed to induce visible necrotic local lesions (NLL) in nontransformed tobacco cultivar Samsun NN at 25°C (Fig. 1A, left graph, and 1B, left leaf). In contrast, in tobacco cultivar Samsun NN transgenic for CMV RNA1, TMV-GFP induced visible NLL (Fig. 1A, right graph, and 1B, right leaf). The latter lesions were, however, smaller than those induced by WT TMV (Fig. 1A, right graph). On the other hand, the NLL induced by WT TMV were of comparable sizes in both types of plants (Fig. 1A, left graph versus right graph; samples labeled TMV). Furthermore, visible NLL were apparent in tobacco cultivar Samsun NN inoculated with WT TMV as early as 2 days postinoculation (dpi) and increased in diameter over the next week (Fig. 1A, both graphs, curves labeled TMV). In contrast, the NLL induced by TMV-GFP in CMV RNA1-transgenic tobacco cultivar Samsun NN were visible only at 3 dpi and did not increase substantially in diameter on subsequent days (Fig. 1A, right graph). However, analysis at 2 dpi of GFP fluorescence with a UV lamp showed that TMV-GFP had already spread from the initially infected cells (Fig. 1A, image below right graph). Therefore, the visible NLL induced by TMV-GFP in CMV RNA1-transgenic tobacco cultivar Samsun NN not only were smaller than those induced by WT TMV but also appeared later (delayed by ca. 24 h) (Fig. 1A, right graph).
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FIG. 1. A CMV RNA1 transgene enhances the local movement of TMV-GFP in NN tobacco. (A) Graphic plot of the rate of growth (mean and standard deviation) at 25°C of NLL in leaves of tobacco cultivar Samsun NN not transformed (left graph) or transformed with RNA1 of CMV (right graph) and inoculated with either WT TMV or TMV-GFP. The image below the right graph shows the detection under a UV lamp of GFP-fluorescent foci in tobacco cultivar Samsun NN transformed with CMV RNA1 at 2 dpi with TMV-GFP, despite the absence of visible necrotic lesions (right graph). (B) Infection by TMV-GFP at 25°C induced visible NLL in inoculated leaves of CMV RNA1-transgenic tobacco cultivar Samsun NN at 4 dpi (right leaf, labeled NN-TG), whereas inoculated leaves of nontransformed tobacco cultivar Samsun NN remained asymptomatic (left leaf, labeled NN). (C) Microscopic detection of GFP fluorescence under UV light in tobacco leaves 4 dpi with TMV-GFP and kept at 25°C (upper row) or at 33°C (lower row). Left and right panels show foci of infection in tobacco cultivar Samsun NN either not transformed or transgenic for CMV RNA1 (labeled NN and NN-TG, respectively). A fluorescein isothiocyanate-rhodamine filter was used to show green fluorescence from GFP, while autofluorescence from necrotized tissue appears orange. Healthy tissue appears as a dark background. Bars, 100 µm.
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Novel temperature-independent resistance to the movement of TMV-GFP specific to the NN genotype. The enhancement by the CMV RNA1 transgene of the cell-to-cell movement of TMV-GFP in NN tobacco also was observed at 33°C, at which the N gene-mediated induction of HR and SAR, which restricts the cell-to-cell movement of WT TMV, is inactive. The effect of the CMV RNA1 transgene on the movement of TMV-GFP was demonstrated by using a UV lamp to detect the presence of TMV-GFP (Fig. 2A, compare two leaves at lower left). To ascertain whether the N allele was associated with the restriction of TMV-GFP in nontransgenic tobacco, plants of tobacco cultivar Samsun nn, lacking the N allele, were tested for their ability to restrict the cell-to-cell movement of TMV-GFP. Such plants also were made transgenic for CMV RNA1 to compare the effects of the CMV RNA1 transgene on TMV-GFP movement in both cultivars (Samsun NN and Samsun nn). In fact, in the absence of the N alelle, TMV-GFP moved from cell to cell as efficiently in the presence as in the absence of the CMV RNA1 transgene (Fig. 2A, compare two leaves at upper right). This lack of a difference in movement by TMV-GFP was observed at both 25 and 33°C (Fig. 2A, compare two leaves at upper right with two leaves at lower right). Thus, the restriction of cell-to-cell movement in tobacco cultivar Samsun NN plants at 25 and 33°C (Fig. 1 and 2A) was associated in both cases with the presence of either the N gene or other genes tightly linked to the N gene.
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FIG. 2. A CMV RNA1 transgene neutralizes novel resistance to TMV-GFP specific for the NN genotype. The patterns of GFP fluorescence were observed under a UV lamp in tobacco cultivar Samsun NN, either not transformed or transgenic for CMV RNA1 (labeled NN and NN-TG, respectively), and tobacco cultivar Samsun nn, either not transformed or transgenic for CMV RNA1 (labeled nn and nn-TG, respectively). (A) Leaf at 4 dpi with TMV-GFP and kept at either 25°C (upper row) or 33°C (lower row). (B) Whole plant at 14 dpi with TMV-GFP and kept at either 25°C (left panel) or 33°C (right panel). Each row of leaves shows the detached inoculated leaf (i.l.) followed by the detached four consecutive leaves (numbered 1 to 4 in ascending order).
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The demonstration that the CMV RNA1 transgene does not enhance the movement of TMV-GFP in an n allele context indicates that the CMV RNA1 transgene operates by neutralizing the novel temperature-independent resistance to the movement of TMV-GFP conditioned by the NN genotype rather than by generically improving virus movement. This specificity also was demonstrated in experiments showing that neither PVX nor tobacco rattle virus vectors expressing GFP were retarded in their movement in tobacco cultivar Samsun NN versus tobacco cultivar Samsun nn and that no enhancement of the movement of either virus was observed in tobacco transgenic for CMV RNA1 (data not shown).
To confirm that the above observations were due to effects on virus movement rather than virus replication, the accumulation of TMV and the accumulation of TMV-GFP in tobacco protoplasts were compared. The accumulation of WT TMV or TMV-GFP was similar in isolated tobacco mesophyll cells from both nontransgenic and CMV RNA1-transgenic tobacco cultivar Samsun NN (Fig. 3, lanes 1 and 2), as was the accumulation of PVX or PVX-GFP (Fig. 3, lanes 3 and 4). The latter viruses were used as an internal control, since no synergy for the accumulation of PVX has been observed in CMV RNA1-transgenic plants (reference 43 and data not shown).
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FIG. 3. A CMV RNA1 transgene does not enhance the replication of TMV-GFP in NN tobacco. The upper panel shows Northern blot hybridization analysis of the accumulation of viral RNA in protoplasts isolated from tobacco cultivar Samsum NN, either not transformed or transgenic for CMV RNA1 (labeled NN and NN-TG, respectively), 24 h after electroporation with water (lane M), WT TMV transcript RNA (lane 1), TMV-GFP transcript RNA (lane 2), PVX transcript RNA (lane 3), or PVX-GFP transcript RNA (lane 4). The lower panel shows rRNA accumulation.
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It is highly unlikely that our results are due to somaclonal variations in the CMV RNA1-transgenic plants, since the effect attributed here to the CMV RNA1 transgene was observed in independently transformed lines (Table 1), irrespective of whether the lines exhibited susceptibility or systemic resistance to infection by CMV (11). All of these lines supported the replication of CMV RNA2 and RNA3. In addition, other transgenic lines generated independently to express RNA1 of the LS strain of CMV or chimeric RNA1 derived from the 5' half of RNA1 of the LS strain and the 3' half of the Fny strain of CMV (45, 53) also showed the replication of CMV strain Fny RNA2 and RNA3 as well as enhancement of the local movement of TMV-GFP (Table 1). These data also show that the effects observed are not specific to only CMV strain Fny RNA sequences.
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TABLE 1. Analysis of the abilities of different CMV RNA1 transgenes to enhance the local movement of TMV-GFP in tobacco cultivar Samsun NN at 25°C
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FIG. 4. The novel resistance is specifically associated with the N gene. (A) At 25°C and at 7 dpi with TMV-GFP, NLL were observed in inoculated leaves of the progeny from the cross between tobacco cultivar Samsun nn plants transgenic for CMV RNA1 (nn-TG) and plants transgenic for the N gene (SR1::NN), yielding nn-TG x SR1::NN (right leaf). In the inoculated leaf of parental CMV RNA1-transgenic tobacco cultivar Samsun nn, no visible NLL were produced (not shown), whereas in the inoculated leaf of parental SR1:: NN tobacco, very small NLL were visible (SR1:: NN) (left leaf). (B) At 33°C and at 12 dpi with TMV-GFP, the spread of virus in the whole plant was assessed with a UV lamp. Each row of leaves shows the detached inoculated leaf (i.l.) followed by the detached four consecutive leaves (numbered 1 to 4 in ascending order).
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The novel resistance mechanism operates via a pathway independent of SA. The effect of the CMV RNA1 transgene on the movement of TMV-GFP could be due to an interaction with either the N gene itself or some factor downstream of the known pathways activated by the N gene. N gene-activated SAR is mediated by SA. To determine whether the novel resistance to the movement of TMV-GFP is associated with the SA-mediated pathway, transgenic tobacco cultivar Samsun NN plants expressing the bacterial nahG gene (39), which causes hydrolysis of SA, were infected with WT TMV and TMV-GFP. When such plants were infected with WT TMV at 25°C, they developed necrotic lesions. However, as the SA-mediated resistance response was not activated, the virus continued to move slowly throughout the plant, inducing a phenotype of spreading necrosis, due to the activated HR (17, 39). However, infection with TMV-GFP at 25°C was confined to subliminal, microscopic lesions in nahG-transgenic tobacco cultivar Samsun NN, which did not grow further (Fig. 5, right leaves, and data not shown). In contrast, in the progeny resulting from the cross between nahG-transgenic tobacco cultivar Samsun NN and CMV RNA1-transgenic tobacco cultivar Samsun NN, TMV-GFP induced visible NLL (Fig. 5A, middle leaf) and a phenotype of spreading necrosis (Fig. 5, middle leaves). In parental tobacco cultivar Samsun NN transgenic for CMV RNA1, visible NLL were also induced (Fig. 5A, left leaf), but there was no phenotype of spreading necrosis (Fig. 5, left leaves). Thus, it appears that the novel resistance associated with the N gene follows a pathway that is not dependent on SA for its induction.
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FIG. 5. The novel resistance operates independently of SA. (A) At 25°C and 4 dpi with TMV-GFP, NLL of comparable sizes were induced in inoculated leaves of the progeny from the cross between tobacco cultivar Samsun NN transformed with the nahG gene (NahG) and tobacco cultivar Samsun NN transgenic for CMV RNA1 (NN-TG), yielding nahG-NN x NN-TG (central leaf), and in inoculated leaves of parental tobacco cultivar Samsun NN transgenic for CMV RNA1 (NN-TG) (left leaf). In the inoculated leaves of parental tobacco cultivar Samsun NN transformed with the nahG gene, infection remained subliminal and no visible NLL were induced (NahG) (right leaf). (B) At 10 dpi, NLL in inoculated leaves of nahG-NN x NN-TG plants (central leaf) displayed a phenotype of spreading necrosis, whereas NLL in inoculated leaves of tobacco cultivar Samsun NN transgenic for CMV RNA1 (left leaf) had barely increased in diameter from 4 dpi and no macroscopic NLL were visible in inoculated leaves of nahG-NN plants (right leaf).
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The enhancing effect of the CMV RNA1 transgene on the movement of TMV-GFP was not observed for WT TMV (Fig. 1A and data not shown). This result suggests that the novel N gene-mediated, temperature-independent resistance described in this report did not affect detectably the ability of the WT virus to move and accumulate. WT TMV either may have moved on before the resistance could be expressed or may not have activated the resistance.
How does this novel resistance to TMV-based vectors operate? It is clear that the N gene mediates the resistance, which is temperature independent. The resistance operates by inhibiting both cell-to-cell movement and systemic movement without causing reduced viral accumulation in the infected cell (Fig. 3). Could the resistance affect the plasmodesmatal gating function of the TMV movement protein? It is known that the N gene affects the ability of the TMV movement protein to alter the gating capacity of plasmodesmata and therefore the efficiency of virus movement, but this effect occurs in a temperature-dependent manner (18). The demonstration that the enhancing effect of the CMV RNA1 transgene on the movement of TMV-GFP was temperature independent makes it unlikely that CMV RNA1 or the CMV 1a protein acts by suppressing the temperature-dependent effect of the N gene on the gating ability of the TMV movement protein (18).
How does the CMV RNA1 transgene neutralize this novel resistance? We suggest that the CMV 1a protein may interfere with a hypothetical gene-for-gene interaction between the viral elicitor and the receptor that activates this novel aspect of the N gene response described in this report. The nature of the viral elicitor is not known. Direct interference between the CMV RNA1 transgene product and the receptors that trigger N gene-mediated HR and SAR is unlikely, since the CMV transgene does not prevent the activation of HR and SAR at 25°C. However, it is possible that the CMV RNA1 transgene somehow alters the specific, time-dependent pattern of differential expression of the two N gene products, resulting in the activation of HR and SAR. Alterations in the pattern of expression of these products have been shown to compromise the size and timing of the appearance of NLL and the eventual establishment of SAR (19, 20). In this regard, we observed a 24-h delay in the appearance of HR, despite the occurrence of some cell-to-cell movement (Fig. 1A, right graph and the image below it). On the other hand, a reduction in the ability of a mutant virus to move from cell to cell (as in the case of TMV-GFP versus WT TMV in nn tobacco plants) also resulted in a reduction in the size of the NLL as well as a delay in the appearance of the NLL and the establishment of SAR in NN tobacco plants (18, 40).
With regard to the possible relationship between this novel resistance and the SAR pathway (reviewed in reference 44), we show that in NN tobacco plants transgenic for the bacterial nahG gene, which causes hydrolysis of SA, infection by TMV-GFP remains confined to very few cells, with no induction of visible NLL (Fig. 5, right leaves). Therefore, the novel resistance to TMV-GFP movement is not dependent on SA. While it seems unlikely that the temperature-independent N gene product could interact with other components of the pathway leading to SAR beyond the stimulation of SA, this possibility cannot be excluded. Such activation may manifest itself more slowly than HR and may not be able to restrict the movement of WT TMV.
It would be interesting to determine whether the same domains of the N gene are associated with the SA-mediated resistance response and the novel temperature-independent, CMV RNA1-suppressible resistance response. In this regard, the viral elicitor of the N gene response to TMV was mapped to the helicase domain (22, 40, 41), and CMV RNA1 encodes the 1a protein, a component of the viral RdRp that also contains a putative helicase domain (29). We show that the effect of the CMV RNA1 transgene on the movement of TMV-GFP is maintained even when the encoded 1a protein contains deletions of motifs that would abolish its putative helicase activity. However, the enzymatic activity of TMV helicase is not a feature required for the activation of N gene-dependent HR by the latter (22). Thus, the nature of the interaction remains unknown.
Testing of transgenic plants expressing various N gene mutants as well as alternative splicing of N gene transcripts could lead to a clearer understanding of the nature of the elicitors of the two distinct resistance responses. Such studies may also provide more information on how CMV RNA1 or the encoded 1a protein is able to suppress a resistance mechanism that has an inhibitory effect on the movement of a TMV-based vector.
This work was supported (in part) by contract QLK3-CT-2000-00361 from the European Commission and by a grant-in-aid from the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department.
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