Enhanced foreign protein accumulation in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves co-infiltrated with a TMV vector and plant cell cycle regulator genes.

In this short communication, we report that the cell cycle checkpoint genes At-CycD2 and At-CDC27a from Arabidopsis thaliana enhance the transient heterologous protein expression in Nicotiana benthamiana. We selected a well-studied and widely used virus expression vector based on TMV for the delivery of recombinant proteins into the host plant. Co-infiltration of TMV-gfp and binary expression vectors carrying the At-CycD2 and At-CDC27a genes, respectively, resulted in enhanced GFP fluorescence in agroinoculated leaves. These findings corresponded with the observation of (1) higher mRNA levels for TMV and gfp and (2) increased GFP protein accumulation. Furthermore, by co-delivery of the TMV-scFv-TM43-E10 and At-CycD2/At-CDC27a expressing constructs we observed an enhanced amount of the scFv-TM43-E10 antibody fragment compared to the delivery of the TMV-scFv-TM43-E10 alone. We anticipate that this finding might be adapted for enhancing foreign protein production in N. benthamiana as the host plant.