Consequences of gene transfer between distantly related tombusviruses

Hybrid cDNA clones were constructed by fusing the coat protein-encoding gene and/or the 3'-terminal region (including the 22- and 19-kDa protein-encoding genes) derived from a clone of artichoke mottled crinkle tombusvirus to the 5'-terminal region of a full-length clone of cymbidium ringspot tombusvirus. In vitro transcripts from recombinant clones were infectious when inoculated into Nicotiana clevelandii plants. Inoculated plants showed symptoms different from those induced by parent viruses. In particular, systemic invasion depended very much, although not exclusively, on the type of protein that coated progeny viral RNA, suggesting a role of the capsid protein in the long-distance movement of tombusvirus infections.