Abstract

Rhizomania caused by Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) is one of the most devastating sugar beet diseases. Sugar beet plants engineered to express a 0.4 kb inverted repeat construct based on the BNYVV replicase gene accumulated the transgene mRNA to similar levels in leaves and roots, whereas accumulation of the transgene-homologous siRNA was more pronounced in roots. The roots expressed high levels of resistance to BNYVV transmitted by the vector, Polymyxa betae. Resistance to BNYVV was not decreased following co-infection of the plants with Beet soil borne virus and Beet virus Q that share the same vector with BNYVV. Similarly, co-infection with the aphid-transmitted Beet mild yellowing virus, Beet yellows virus (BYV), or with all of the aforementioned viruses did not affect the resistance to BNYVV, while they accumulated in roots. These viruses are common in most of the sugar beet growing areas in Europe and world wide. However, there was a competitive interaction between BYV and BMYV in sugar beet leaves, as infection with BYV decreased the titres of BMYV. Other interactions between the viruses studied were not observed. The results suggest that the engineered resistance to BNYVV expressed in the sugar beets of this study is efficient in roots and not readily compromised following infection of the plants with heterologous viruses.

Keywords

aphis-bome viruses; engineered resistance; gene silencing; rhizomania; soil-borne viruses; sugar beet

Published in

Transgenic Research
2008, Volume: 17, number: 2, pages: 219-228
Publisher: SPRINGER

SLU Authors

• Savenkov, Eugene

  • Department of Plant Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Valkonen, Jari

  • Department of Plant Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • University of Helsinki

UKÄ Subject classification

Food Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-007-9092-0

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/20394