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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Molecular Plant Pathology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #332690
Title: Development and characterization of the first infectious clone of alfalfa latent virus, a strain of Pea streak virus

Author
item Nemchinov, Lev

Submitted to: European Journal of Plant Pathology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/18/2017
Publication Date: 4/29/2017
Citation: Nemchinov, L.G. 2017. Development and characterization of the first infectious clone of alfalfa latent virus, a strain of Pea streak virus. European Journal of Plant Pathology. doi:10.1007/s10658-017-1237-2.

Interpretive Summary: Alfalfa latent virus (ALV) is a strain of Pea streak virus that affects pea, bean and many other plants and is known for more than 60 years. The virus is spread in the USA, Canada and in the Eurasian region. Recently, we obtained for the first time a complete nucleotide sequence of the ALV and determined genome structure of the virus. As a continuation of this work, we developed a full-length infectious cDNA clone of the virus. Construction of the infectious clone represents an initial step towards development of an ALV-based virus vector for gene silencing and expression of foreign proteins in alfalfa. Results of this study will be of interest to the researchers in academia and government organizations working in plant virology field and also to the scientists working alfalfa.

Technical Abstract: Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is a natural host plant for many plant pathogens including fungi, bacteria, nematodes and viruses. Alfalfa latent virus (ALV) is a member of the carlavirus group and occurs symptomlessly in alfalfa. The first complete genomic sequence of the ALV that was recently obtained in our laboratory showed that the virus differs substantially from other members of the genus Carlavirus. Here we report generation of infectious RNA transcripts from the full-length viral cDNA as a proof that ALV nucleotide sequence is correct and as an initial step toward development of the ALV-based vector for gene silencing and expression of foreign proteins in alfalfa. This is the first report describing the development of a complete cDNA clone of the ALV strain of Pea streak virus and its infectivity in the diagnostic pea (Pisum sativum cv Lincoln) and natural alfalfa hosts.