Expansion of Viral Host Range through Complementation and Recombination in Transgenic Plants

We have shown previously that gene VI of cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) strain D4 governs systemic infection of Nicotiana bigelovii and that transgenic N. bigelovii expressing the D4 gene VI product can complement at least one CaMV isolate for long-distance transport. We have now found that DNA of two other isolates of CaMV recombine with the gene VI coding sequence present in the transgenic plants. The formation of recombinant viruses occurs as a consequence of CaMV replication, involving two template switches during reverse transcription of the CaMV RNA to DNA. The first template switch occurs at the 5[prime] end of the 35S RNA to the gene VI mRNA produced by the transgenic plants. A second switch occurs at the 5[prime] end of the gene VI mRNA back to the 35S RNA. We also demonstrate that CaMV can acquire sequences from transgenic plants that alter the symptomatology and host range of the virus, an observation that may have important risk assessment implications for strategies using pathogen-derived resistance to protect plants against virus diseases.