The expression of a single-chain Fv antibody fragment in different plant hosts and tissues by using Potato virus X as a vector.

Some aspects of the expression of a single-chain Fv antibody fragment (scFv) driven by the plant viral vector Potato virus X (PVX) have been studied by quantitative ELISA. After inoculation of the infectious transcript, the vector was stable only for a few passages of sap transmission in the inoculated leaves of Nicotiana benthamiana and the reversal to wild type was more pronounced in the systemically invaded leaves. The amount of synthesized scFv varied when different solanaceous hosts were tested, being generally higher and less variable in inoculated than in systemically invaded leaves. In tomato and Datura stramonium the scFv was synthesized only in the inoculated leaves. The scFv was also synthesized in the PVX local hosts Chenopodium amaranticolor and C. quinoa. No correlation was found between PVX and scFv concentration in the inoculated and systemically invaded leaves of N. benthamiana and N. clevelandii. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.