TMV infection cycle in plant cells revealed by 3-D microscopy

BERG, R.H.; ASURMENDI, S.; BEACHY, R.N.

MICROSCOPY & MICROANALYSIS

CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS

Año: 2002 vol. 8 p. 966 - 967

1431-9276

Three-dimensional microscopy has been essential in our investigation of infection ofplant cells by tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). The genome of TMV encodes a proteinessential for replication of the genome (replicase), a 30 kDa movement protein (MP) thatis essential for cell-cell spread of infection, and a 17.5 kDa capsid protein (CP). The useof green fluorescent protein (GFP) from Aequoria victoria fused with MP or CP made itpossible to collect images of the progression of infection and led to a more complete understanding of how cells react to infection and alter their biochemical activities.Confocal microscopy has been indispensable in this work, providing high contrast 3-Dimaging of the cellular distribution of virus proteins [1-6].