Partial Genome Organization, Identification of the Coat Protein Gene, and Detection of Grapevine leafroll-associated virus-5.

ABSTRACT The genome of Grapevine leafroll-associated virus-5 (GLRaV-5) was cloned, and the sequence of 4766 nt was determined. Degenerate oligonucleotide primers designed from the conserved closterovirus heat shock 70 protein (HSP 70) homologue were used to obtain viral-specific sequences to anchor the cloning of the viral RNA with a genomic walking approach. The partial nucleotide (nt) sequence of GLRaV-5 showed the presence of four open reading frames (ORF A through D), potentially coding for the HSP 70 homologue (ORF A); a 51-kDa protein of unknown function with similarity to GLRaV-3 p55 (ORF B); the viral capsid protein (ORF C); and a diverged viral duplicate capsid protein (ORF D). The ORF C was identified as GLRaV-5 viral capsid protein based on sequence analyses and the reactivity of the recombinant protein to GLRaV-5 specific antibodies by western blot analyses. The antiserum produced with the in vitro-expressed GLRaV-5 ORF C protein product specifically reacted with a 36-kDa polypeptide from GLRaV-5 infected vines but did not react with protein extracts from vines infected with other GLRaVs or uninfected vines. Furthermore, specific primers were designed for the sensitive detection of GLRaV-1 and GLRaV-5 by polymerase chain reaction.

Reduced ethylene synthesis by transgenic tomatoes expressing S-adenosylmethionine hydrolase.

We have utilized a gene from bacteriophage T3 that encodes the enzyme S-adenosylmethionine hydrolase (SAMase) to generate transgenic tomato plants that produce fruit with a reduced capacity to synthesize ethylene. S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) is the metabolic precursor of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid, the proximal precursor to ethylene. SAMase catalyzes the conversion of SAM to methylthioadenosine and homoserine. To restrict the presence of SAMase to ripening fruit, the promoter from the tomato E8 gene was used to regulate SAMase gene expression. Transgenic tomato plants containing the 1.1 kb E8 promoter bore fruit that expressed SAMase during the breaker and orange stage of fruit ripening and stopped expression after the fruit fully ripened. Plants containing the 2.3 kb E8 promoter expressed SAMase at higher levels during the post-breaker phases of fruit ripening and had a substantially reduced capacity to synthesize ethylene.