Alcaide, C.; Méndez-López, E.; Úbeda, J.R.; Gómez, P.; Aranda, M.A. Characterization of Two Aggressive PepMV Isolates Useful in Breeding Programs. Viruses2023, 15, 2230.
Alcaide, C.; Méndez-López, E.; Úbeda, J.R.; Gómez, P.; Aranda, M.A. Characterization of Two Aggressive PepMV Isolates Useful in Breeding Programs. Viruses 2023, 15, 2230.
Alcaide, C.; Méndez-López, E.; Úbeda, J.R.; Gómez, P.; Aranda, M.A. Characterization of Two Aggressive PepMV Isolates Useful in Breeding Programs. Viruses2023, 15, 2230.
Alcaide, C.; Méndez-López, E.; Úbeda, J.R.; Gómez, P.; Aranda, M.A. Characterization of Two Aggressive PepMV Isolates Useful in Breeding Programs. Viruses 2023, 15, 2230.
Abstract
Pepino mosaic virus (PepMV) causes significant economic losses in tomato crops worldwide. Since its first detection infecting tomato in 1999, aggressive PepMV variants have emerged. This study aimed to characterize two aggressive PepMV isolates, PepMV-H30 and PepMV-KLP2. Both isolates were identified in South-Eastern Spain infecting tomato plants, which showed severe symptoms, including bright yellow mosaics. Full-length infectious clones were generated, and phylogenetic relationships were inferred using their nucleotide sequences and another 35 full-length sequences from isolates representing the five PepMV known strains. Our analysis revealed that PepMV-H30 and PepMV-KLP2 belong to the EU and CH2 strains, respectively. Amino acid sequence comparisons between these and mild isolates identified 8 and 15 amino acid substitutions for PepMV-H30 and PepMV-KLP2, respectively, potentially involved in severe symptom induction. None of the substitutions identified in PepMV-H30 had previously been described as symptom determinant. The E236K substitution, originally present in the PepMV-H30 CP, was introduced into a mild PepMV-EU isolate, resulting in a virus that causes symptoms similar to those induced by the parental PepMV-H30. In silico analyses revealed that this residue is located at the C-terminus of the CP and is solvent-accessible, suggesting its potential involvement in CP-host proteins interactions. We also examined the subcellular localization of PepGFPm2E236K in comparison to that of PepGFPm2, focusing on chloroplast affection, but no differences were observed in the GFP subcellular distribution between the two viruses. Due to the easily visible symptoms that PepMV-H30 and PepMV-KLP2 induce, these isolates represent valuable tools in programs destined to breeding resistance to PepMV in tomato.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
