Abstract
A major challenge for crop protection and for pharmaceutical research is to develop methods for controlling rapidly evolving pathogens. The problem facing researchers is that these organisms are capable of overcoming natural and transgenic resistances, as well as the threat that antibiotics or antiviral drugs will lose their effectiveness. Viruses are particularly fast evolving, therefore the success and durability of antiviral strategies will depend largely on the identification of suitable molecular targets that are restricted in their ability to mutate. In a Research Focus article in this issue of Trends in Biotechnology, Marcel Prins suggests that future developments in transgenic plant virus resistance must be based on increased understanding of the molecular mechanisms of viral life cycles and plant defense strategies. Based on a detailed characterization of tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) nucleocapsid (N) protein [1], we have devised a novel strategy for engineering virus-resistant plants using peptide ‘aptamers’ selected for by the yeast two-hybrid system to target specifically the protein domain necessary for homo-multimerization [2]. The successful application of the aptamer approach for engineering TSWV-resistant tobacco is proof that homo-polymerization of the N protein is indeed an essential function, which despite limited sequence homology, is structurally and functionally conserved among diverse species of the tospoviral family.
Published Version
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