Begomoviruses belonging to the family Geminiviridae are plant-infecting distinct single-stranded (ss)-DNA viruses causing
significant reductions in crop yield. VirE2 is ss-DNA binding protein and can be used to obtain resistance against ss-DNA
viruses. We have utilized VirE2 from Agrobacterium tumefaciens to get resistance against begomoviruses. Resistance was
evaluated against both mono- and bipartite begomoviruses using Agrobacterium-mediated inoculation technique. Nicotiana
benthamiana plants were inoculated with infectious clones of Cotton leaf curl Kokhran virus (CLCuKoV)/Cotton leaf curl
Multan betasatellite (CLCuMuB) and Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV) alone as well as along with VirE2
construct. The plants inoculated with infectious clones showed typical virus symptoms while delayed or milder symptoms
were observed in plants inoculated with viruses along with VirE2 construct, furthermore, 68% resistance against
CLCuKoV/CLCuMuB and 56% against ToLCNDV was observed. The visual observations were confirmed through PCR and
Southern hybridization. The results have also shown that VirE2 gene was able to reduce the replication of both viruses.
Therefore, inhibition of viral DNA replication by VirE2 could be adapted to protect economically important crops against
begomoviruses.
Sumaira Yousaf, Ghulam Rasool, Imran Amin, Shahid Mansoor, Muhammad Saeed. (2015) Evaluation Of The Resistance Against Begomoviruses Imparted By The Single-stranded Dna Binding Protein Vire2, , Volume-52, Issue-4.
