Proteomics

New strategies for virus resistance

Viral diseases are a major concern in agriculture and medicine. Globalisation of economic activities, including increased mobility, will boost existing problems demanding improved strategies to control viral diseases.
We established a new strategy for virus resistance via the expression of single chain Fv fragments targeting a conswerved epitope of the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), a key enzyme in the viral replication cycle. Transgenic Nicotiana benthamiana plants.
Expressing the scFv in the cytoplasm or the endoplasmatic reticulum displayed resistance against some viruses belonging to Tombusviridae family. We aim to adopt this strategy to other host/virus combinations and to target additional viral proteins.

T2 plants expressing a scFv targeting the viral RdRp infected with either tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV), red clover necrotic mosaic virus (RCNMV), cucumber necrosis virus (CNV) or turnip crinkle virus (TCV) (from left to right) at 14 days post infection. Plants infected with TBSV and CNV did not show any symptoms of infection. Plants infected with TCV and RCNMV showed mild systemic symptoms. Control wild-type plants (in the front) showed severe systemic symptoms.

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