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Submitted to: International Union of Microbiological Societies Proceedings/Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 2/10/2002 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Infection of Rutgers' tomato with Potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd) results in stunting, abnormal development of root and vascular tissues, and leaf epinasty and deformation. As viroids replicate, move systemically, and exert pathogenic effects without encoding proteins, the implication is that viroid functions are mediated through sequence and structural signals alone. An experimental system for identifying nuclear-targeting signals of PSTVd in a whole plant assay, previously developed in our laboratory, is being further developed to dissect individual domain structures in order to locate precise nuclear-targeting motifs. Viroid pathogenicity is a complex phenomenon that is influenced by both the nature of the viroid and host plant genomes. We are utilizing the yeast two-hybrid system to identify cellular components that interact with the protein product of pkv, a tomato protein kinase gene previously found to be transcriptionally activated in leaves of viroid-infected plants. In addition, using viral-based vectors to deliver sense and antisense copies of pkv to tomato, we have observed that the antisense construct reduces stunting and epinasty symptoms caused by co-infection with PSTVd. |
