Allergenicity assessment of the papaya ringspot virus coat protein expressed in transgenic rainbow papaya.

The virus-resistant, transgenic commercial papaya Rainbow and SunUp (Carica papaya L.) have been consumed locally in Hawaii and elsewhere in the mainland United States and Canada since their release to planters in Hawaii in 1998. These papaya are derived from transgenic papaya line 55-1 and carry the coat protein (CP) gene of papaya ringspot virus (PRSV). The PRSV CP was evaluated for potential allergenicity, an important component in assessing the safety of food derived from transgenic plants. The transgene PRSV CP sequence of Rainbow papaya did not exhibit greater than 35% amino acid sequence homology to known allergens, nor did it have a stretch of eight amino acids found in known allergens which are known common bioinformatic methods used for assessing similarity to allergen proteins. PRSV CP was also tested for stability in simulated gastric fluid and simulated intestinal fluid and under various heat treatments. The results showed that PRSV CP was degraded under conditions for which allergenic proteins relative to nonallergens are purported to be stable. The potential human intake of transgene-derived PRSV CP was assessed by measuring CP levels in Rainbow and SunUp along with estimating the fruit consumption rates and was compared to potential intake estimates of PRSV CP from naturally infected nontransgenic papaya. Following accepted allergenicity assessment criteria, our results show that the transgene-derived PRSV CP does not pose a risk of food allergy.

Genetic diversity and evidence for recent modular recombination in Hawaiian Citrus tristeza virus.

The Hawaiian Islands are home to a widespread and diverse population of Citrus tristeza virus (CTV), an economically important pathogen of citrus. In this study, we quantified the genetic diversity of two CTV genes and determined the complete genomic sequence for two strains of Hawaiian CTV. The nucleotide diversity was estimated to be 0.0565 + or - 0.0022 for the coat protein (CP) gene (n = 137) and 0.0822 + or - 0.0033 for the p23 gene (n = 30). The genome size and organization of CTV strains HA18-9 and HA16-5 were similar to other fully sequenced strains of CTV. The 3'-terminal halves of their genomes were nearly identical (98.5% nucleotide identity), whereas the 5'-terminal halves were more distantly related (72.3% nucleotide identity), suggesting a possible recombination event. Closer examination of strain HA16-5 indicated that it arose through recent recombination between the movement module of an HA18-9 genotype, and the replication module of an undescribed CTV genotype.

Papaya ringspot virus-P: characteristics, pathogenicity, sequence variability and control.

TAXONOMY: Papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) is an aphid-transmitted plant virus belonging to the genus Potyvirus, family Potyviridae, with a positive sense RNA genome. PRSV isolates belong to either one of two major strains, P or W. The P strains infect both papaya and cucurbits whereas the W strains infect only cucurbits. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: PRSV-P is found in all major papaya-growing areas. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES: Virions are filamentous, non-enveloped and flexuous measuring 760-800 x 12 nm. Virus particles contain 94.5% protein and 5.5% nucleic acid. The protein component consists of the virus coat protein (CP), which has a molecular weight of about 36 kDa as estimated by Western blot analysis. Density of the sedimenting component in purified PRSV preparations is 1.32 g/cm(3) in CsCl. GENOME: The PRSV genome consists of a unipartite linear single-stranded positive sense RNA of 10 326 nucleotides with a 5' terminus, genome-linked protein, VPg. TRANSMISSION: The virus is naturally transmitted via aphids in a non-persistent manner. Both the CP and helper component (HC-Pro) are required for vector transmission. This virus can also be transmitted mechanically, and is typically not seed-transmitted. HOSTS: PRSV has a limited number of hosts belonging to the families Caricaceae, Chenopodiaceae and Cucurbitaceae. Propagation hosts are: Carica papaya, Cucurbita pepo and Cucumis metuliferus cv. accession 2459. Local lesion assay hosts are: Chenopodium quinoa and Chenopodium amaranticolor. CONTROL: Two transgenic papaya varieties, Rainbow and SunUp, with engineered resistance to PRSV have been commercially grown in Hawaii since 1998. Besides transgenic resistance, tolerant varieties, cross-protection and other cultural practices such as isolation and rogueing of infected plants are used to manage the disease. VIRUS CODE: 00.057.0.01.045. VIRUS ACCESSION NUMBER: 57010045. USEFUL LINK: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ICTVdb/ICTVdB/57010045.htm.