Biological activity of transcripts from cDNA of Pelargonium line pattern virus.

A set of cDNAs of Pelargonium line pattern virus (PLPV) was assembled under the control of T7 RNA polymerase promoter and ligated into the plasmid pUC18. Transcripts synthesized in vitro from cDNA were infectious on Chenopodium quinoa according to locally induced lesions and hybridization assay. The biological activity of the viral transcripts was particularly sensitive to the short 3' terminus extensions, whereas inclusion of the 3 extra bases at the 5' terminus did not substantially affect the infectivity. Inoculation of the transcripts on plants Nicotiana benthamiana and Nicotiana clevelandii give rise to the systemic infection indistinguishable from that established by the parental isolate. This is the first report about the preparation of infectious RNA transcripts from a full-length cDNA clone of PLPV.