HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hirata, H. Articles by Namba, S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hirata, H. Articles by Namba, S. Agricola Articles by Hirata, H. Articles by Namba, S.

A single silent substitution in the genome of Apple stem grooving virus causes symptom attenuation

Laboratory of Bioresource Technology, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 202 Bioscience Bldg, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8562, Japan

Correspondence
Shigetou Namba
snamba{at}ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Among randomly mutagenized clones derived from an infectious cDNA copy of genomic RNA of Apple stem grooving virus (ASGV), we previously identified a clone, pRM21, whose in vitro transcript (ASGV-RM21) does not induce any symptoms characteristic of the original (wild-type) cDNA clone (ASGV-wt) in several host plants. Interestingly, ASGV-RM21 has only a single, translationally silent nucleotide substitution, U to C, at nucleotide 4646 of the viral genome within open reading frame (ORF) 1. Here, we characterize and verify this unprecedented silent-mutation-induced attenuation of symptoms in infected plants. Northern and Western blot analyses showed that less ASGV-RM21 accumulates in host plants than ASGV-wt. In addition, two more silent substitutions, U to A and U to G, constructed by site-directed mutagenesis at the same nucleotide (4646), also induced attenuated symptoms. This is the first report that a single silent substitution attenuates virus-infection symptoms and implicates a novel determinant of disease symptom severity.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Rolland, C. Kerlan, and E. Jacquot The acquisition of molecular determinants involved in potato virus Y necrosis capacity leads to fitness reduction in tobacco plants J. Gen. Virol., January 1, 2009; 90(1): 244 - 252. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Tribodet, L. Glais, C. Kerlan, and E. Jacquot Characterization of Potato virus Y (PVY) molecular determinants involved in the vein necrosis symptom induced by PVYN isolates in infected Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi J. Gen. Virol., July 1, 2005; 86(7): 2101 - 2105. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]