Poster Presentation International Plant Molecular Biology Conference 2024

Visual tracking of systemic spread of a fluorescently tagged tomato chlorosis virus in living plants (#73)

Sun-Jung Kwon 1 , Young-Eun Cho 1 , Jang-Kyun Seo 1 2
  1. Institutes of Green Bio Science and Technology, Seoul National University, Pyeongchang, Gangwon, Republic of Korea
  2. Department of International Agricultural Technology, Seoul National University, Pyeongchang, Gangwon, Republic of Korea

Tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV) is an emerging pathogen that cause severe yellow leaf disorder syndrome in tomato plants. In this study, we aimed to generate a recombinant ToCV tagged with green fluorescent protein (GFP) to enable real-time monitoring of viral infection in living plants. Transformation of the full-length cDNA construct of ToCV RNA1 into Escherichia coli resulted in instability issues, which were successfully overcome by inserting a plant intron into RNA1. Subsequently, a GFP tag was engineered into a cDNA construct of ToCV RNA2. The resulting recombinant ToCV-GFP could systemically infect Nicotiana benthamiana plants, and GFP expression was observed along the major veins. Utilizing ToCV-GFP, we also showed that ToCV engages in antagonistic relationships with two different tomato-infecting viruses in mixed infections in N. benthamiana. This study demonstrates the potential of ToCV-GFP as a valuable tool for the visual tracking of infection and movement of criniviruses in living plants.