Genetic and Structural Analyses of the TMV Movement Protein

9317368 Beachy许多植物病毒从一开始就指导一种或多种感染传播所需蛋白质的合成；站点到相邻的单元。就烟草花叶病毒而言，负责病毒传播的运动蛋白已被确定并进行了广泛的研究。然而，导致这种传播的细胞和分子机制尚不清楚。先前的研究表明，运动蛋白促进病毒运动的能力是几种功能或特征的综合结果：1)与质膜相关；2)与细胞壁结合；3)与通道内纤维物质形成或不形成的胞间连丝相关联；4)修改胞间连丝大小排除界限；5)形成大的，可溶的复合物，可能包括RNA。拟议的研究将确定哪些功能是生物活性所必需的。运动蛋白的无功能突变体的互补将用于识别可能负责单独功能的蛋白质区域。然后将结合体外和体内研究来确定哪些功能与突变序列相关。对病毒运动蛋白功能的研究结果将有助于更好地了解病毒感染如何在植物中传播。反过来，这可能导致预防植物病害的新方法。此外，由于运动蛋白与胞间连丝相互作用，所获得的知识将导致对植物细胞间通讯的更好理解***

9317368 Beachy Many plant viruses direct the synthesis of one or more proteins required for the spread of infection from the initial; site to adjacent cells. In the case of tobacco mosaic virus the movement protein responsible for spread of the virus has been identified and extensively studied. Nevertheless, the cellular and molecular mechanism responsible for the spread are not well understood. Previous studies have suggested that the ability of the movement protein to facilitate virus movement is the result of a combination of several functions or characteristics: 1) association with plasma membranes; 2) association with cell walls; 3) association with plasmodesmata with or without the formation of fibrous material in the channel; 4) modification of the plasmodesmata size exclusion limit; 5) formation of large, soluble complex perhaps including RNA. The proposed research will determine which functions are required for biological activity. Complementation of nonfunctional mutants of the movement protein will be used to identify regions of the protein that may be responsible for separate functions. A combination of in vitro and in vivo studies will then be used to identify which functions are associated with the mutated sequences. %%% The results of the study on the function of the virus movement protein will lead to a better understanding of how viral infections spread in plants. In turn this may lead to novel methods in preventing plant diseases. In addition, because the movement protein interacts with plasmodesmata, the knowledge obtained will lead to a greater understanding of intercellular communication in plants ***