Search Results
Plants transgenic for potyvirus coat protein (cp) genes have been shown to be resistant to viruses homologous and heterologous to the cp source virus. We have produced plum plants transgenic for the papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) cp gene. PRSV is a potyvirus related to plum pox virus (PPV). PRSVcp transgenic plants have been inoculated with PPV under containment conditions at the USDA Foreign Diseases-Weed Science Research Facility, Frederick, MD, and evaluated for two years. At least one plant is apparently resistant or tolerant to PPV based on symptomology, ELISA and RT-PCR assays. This suggests the potential utility of cp-mediated virus protection in tree fruits. To further test this potential, both short and long-term studies are in progress to evaluate resistance and cp expression in various organs, throughout the year and over the commercial life of individual trees. Plum plants have also been transformed with the PPVcp gene. Studies are underway to evaluate the protection derived from this cp gene.