Background and Aims: Virus-Induced Gene Silencing (VIGS) is a virus vector technology that exploits antiviral defense mechanism. By infecting plants with recombinant viruses containing host genes inserted in the viral genome, VIGS achieves the RNA silencing process. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) and tobacco (Nicotiana be...

Florida is a leading producer of fresh-market tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) in the US, $262 million industry for state. In October 2019, eight tomato plants showing chlorotic, cupped leaves and stunted foliage (Fig. 1) were collected from c. 1.6 ha community garden Alachua County, Florida. The symptoms observed characteristic Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV). Samples tested by PCR using ...

A new tobamovirus species has been recently isolated from hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) in Florida (1). This Florida hibiscus virus has been given the name Hibiscus latent Fort Pierce virus (HLFPV) to reflect the site (Fort Pierce, FL) and host (hibiscus) from which it was originally isolated. A limited survey has revealed that this virus is widespread in hibiscus and related species in the...

In an attempt to improve stress tolerance of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) plants, an expression vector containing an Arabidopsis C-repeat/dehydration responsive element binding factor 1 (CBF1) cDNA driven by a cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter was transferred into tomato plants. Transgenic expression of CBF1 was proved by northern- and western-blot analyses. The degree of chilling toler...

When the coat protein of the small icosahedral virus, brome mosaic virus, reassembles into capsids, the ultrasonic absorption of the solution greatly increases. Submitting the solution to an ultrasonic field thus appears to reveal spontaneous molecular motions within a protein assembly. Confirmatory evidence of a dynamics of a protein shell comes from measurements on brome mosaic virus at vario...

The genome of satellite tobacco mosaic virus (STMV) adapted to tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), tomato mosaic virus or green tomato atypical mosaic virus consistently had two single base deletions at positions 1 and 61, corresponding to bases A and G, respectively, as compared to the type-strain genome which is naturally adapted to tobacco mild green mosaic virus (TMGMV). Transcript RNAs (STMV(TMV))...