The Tomato mosaic virus 30 kDa movement protein interacts differentially with the resistance genes Tm-2 and Tm-2(2)

In tomato plants ( Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.), the genes Tm-2 and Tm-2(2) confer resistance to Tomato mosaic virus (ToMV). Sequence analysis of ToMV strains able to break the Tm-2 or Tm-2(2) resistance revealed distinct amino acid exchanges in the viral 30 kDa protein, suggesting that the movement protein is recognized by both resistance genes to induce the plant defense reaction. To analyze the interactions between the ToMV movement protein and the Tm-2 and Tm-2(2) genes in detail, we generated transgenic tomato lines expressing various movement protein gene constructs. Crosses of the transgenic tomato lines with cultivars containing either the Tm-2 or the Tm-2(2) gene demonstrated that both genes are able to elicit a hypersensitive reaction in response to movement proteins from resistance inducing ToMV strains. However, the domains and the structural requirements for induction of the necrotic response by the ToMV movement protein are completely different for either resistance gene. In the context of the Tm-2 gene, the resistance determinant lies within the N-terminal 188 amino acids of the ToMV movement protein. Interaction of the 30 kDa protein with the Tm-2(2) gene requires two distinct domains localized at the C-terminus and in a different region of the protein, respectively.