Expression of tobacco necrosis virus open reading frames 1 and 2 is sufficient for the replication of satellite tobacco necrosis virus.

Tobacco necrosis virus (TNV) is a small icosahedral plant virus which is often associated with satellite viruses. The genomic RNA of TNV contains six open reading frames (ORFs), of which ORFs 1 and 2 are thought to encode the viral polymerase. We demonstrate that tobacco protoplasts transfected with a vector containing TNV ORFs 1 and 2 under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter, as well as protoplasts derived from transgenic Nicotiana tabacum containing the same gene(s), support replication of satellite tobacco necrosis virus RNA.