Interference with initial and short-distance cell-to-cell movement of Tomato mosaic virus in transgenic tobacco plants with high expression of BcKELP, a virus movement protein interactor from Brassica campestris

A putative transcriptional coactivator KELP of Arabidopsis thaliana and its homolog of Brassica campestris (BcKELP) can bind the movement protein (MP) of Tomato mosaic virus (ToMV) in vitro and, when transiently over-expressed, interfere with the cell-to-cell movement of ToMV. In this study, we generated and selected transgenic Nicotiana tabacum lines expressing BcKELP constitutively and examined their resistance to ToMV. We also investigated changes in MP localization in initially infected Nicotiana benthamiana cells expressing BcKELP transiently. Our results indicate that a high expression of BcKELP can reduce viral initial and short-distance movement probably through disturbance of plasmodesmal targeting of MP.

► We generated transgenic tobacco lines expressing BcKELP, an interactor of ToMV MP. ► Three T1 lines were selected and challenged with a chimeric and wild type ToMV. ► High expression of BcKELP resulted in the interference with virus movement. ► BcKELP disturbed the plasmodesmal targeting of MP during infection. ► BcKELP can be useful to engineer plants to enhance resistance against viruses.