Characterization of defective interfering RNAs associated with RNA plant viruses. Progress report
- Nebraska Univ., Lincoln, NE (United States). School of Biological Sciences
- California Univ., Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Plant Pathology
Our lab was the first to describe and characterize a defective interfering RNA (DI RNAs or DIs) in association with a small RNA plant virus. The features of the DIs that we discovered in infections of tomato bushy stunt virus were compatible with the properties of DIs identified in many animal virus infections. Animal virologists have generally recognized the importance of studying DIs because they are invaluable tools for identifying cis-acting sequences important in virus multiplication and because they offer the opportunity to elucidate mechanisms involved in viral persistence and disease attenuation. Hence our discovery offered a comparably valuable tool for use in plant virus studies for the first time. Since the original observation with TBSV, we discovered the second example of plant viral DI RNAs associated with turnip crinkle virus (TCV), and many other reports have now appeared characterizing DI and DI-like RNAs in other plant viral infections. We are seeking to improve our understanding of the mechanisms of DI generation and the precise nature of the RNA sequences necessary for DI replication and encapsidation. We also want to address the nature of the DI mediated symptom attenuation and interference effects in plants, and to determine the feasibility of using transgenic plants constitutively expressing DI RNAs for disease control. The progress made on each of these objectives is summarized along with the proposed experiments for the continuation period.
- Research Organization:
- Nebraska Univ., Lincoln, NE (United States). School of Biological Sciences
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG02-91ER20026
- OSTI ID:
- 10139870
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/ER/20026-1; ON: DE93011441
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: [1993]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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