Abstract
Alternanthera mosaic virus (AltMV) is a typical member of the Potexvirus genus in its morphology and genome structure; still it exhibits a number of unique features. They allow this virus to be considered a promising object for biotechnology. Virions and virus-like particles (VLPs) of AltMV are stable in a wide range of conditions, including sera of laboratory animals. AltMV VLPs can assemble at various pH and ionic strengths. Furthermore, AltMV virions and VLPs demonstrate high immunogenicity, enhancing the immune response to the target antigen thus offering the possibility of being used as potential adjuvants. Recently, for the first time for plant viruses, we showed the structural difference between morphologically similar viral and virus-like particles on AltMV virions and VLPs. In this review, we discuss the features of AltMV virions, AltMV VLP assembly, and their structure and properties, as well as the characteristics of AltMV isolates, host plants, infection symptoms, AltMV isolation and purification, genome structure, viral proteins, and AltMV-based vectors.
Highlights
Alternanthera mosaic virus (AltMV) was first described in 1999 as “isolate 451/1” in the state of Queensland, Australia [1]
AltMV virion diameter was corrected to 13.5 nm by means of cryoelectron microscopy [4]
Nucleotide sequences determined for AltMV isolates obtained from Scutellaria longifolia [12], Torenia [17], Angelonia angustifolia [15], and Thunbergia laurifolia plants [21] are too short for detailed analysis, yet most likely they belong to portulaca-like type [20]
Summary
Alternanthera mosaic virus (AltMV) was first described in 1999 as “isolate 451/1” in the state of Queensland, Australia [1]. The new virus was isolated from Alternanthera pungens plants of the family Amaranthaceae. AltMV belongs to the genus Potexvirus and the family Alphaflexiviridae. The mean length of AltMV virions equals 554 nm [1], 536 nm [2], or 570 nm [3]. AltMV virion diameter was corrected to 13.5 nm by means of cryoelectron microscopy [4]. Since plant viruses and virus-like particles (VLPs) are essentially safe for humans they seem promising for technological advances in a broad range of areas from microelectronics to developing candidate vaccines and adjuvants [5, 6]. AltMV virions and VLPs have a considerable number of advantages for successful application in biotechnology [4, 7,8,9]
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