U.S.-Australia Cooperative Research: Mapping Functions of anAntiviral RNA Molecule

该奖项将支持加州大学戴维斯分校的George Bruening博士和堪培拉联邦科学与工业研究组织（CSIRO）植物工业部的W.L. Gerlach博士之间的合作研究。研究人员将分析烟草环斑病毒的卫星RNA的功能和基因序列的进化，该病毒作为环斑病毒本身的寄生虫，从而对环斑病毒本身进行生物控制。将进一步研究卫星RNA的突变，以评估其复制、被纳入以及保护植物免受其他病毒影响的能力。该项目结合了两位研究者及其实验室的专业知识。美国研究人员是烟草环斑病毒RNA卫星复制所涉及的蛋白质和核酸方面的专家，并已成功地分别克隆了该病毒的底物和酶RNA；这位澳大利亚研究者是制备突变卫星rna和转基因植物方面的专家。这项研究将有助于对卫星rna功能的基本理解，并将指导未来对植物病毒的生物工程抗性研究。

This award will support collaborative research between Dr. George Bruening of the University of California, Davis, and Dr. W.L. Gerlach of the Division of Plant Industry, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Canberra. The investigators will analyze the functions of, and evolution of genetic sequences in, the satellite RNA of the tobacco ringspot virus, which acts as a parasite on, and therefore biological control for, the ringspot virus itself. Mutations of the satellite RNA will further be studied to assess their ability to replicate, to be incorporated in, and to protect plants from the effects of other viruses. The project combines the expertise of the two investigators and their laboratories. The U.S. investigator is an expert on the proteins and nucleic acids involved in the replication of the tobacco ringspot virus RNA satellite, and has been successful in cloning separately the substrate and enzyme RNAs of this virus; the Australian investigator is an expert in the preparation of mutant satellite RNAs and transgenic plants. This research will contribute to fundamental understanding of how satellite RNAs function, and will guide future research in biologically engineered resistance to plant viruses.