Biotech Updates

CSIRO Identifies Gene Affected by CMV

July 15, 2011

Dr Ming-Bo Wang and Neil Smith of Australia's CSIRO Plant Industry have revealed a genetic mechanism that enables viral organisms such as the cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) to infect hosts and cause diseases.

"What we found was that CMV, accompanied by a special type of viral particle called a ‘satellite', causes its distinctive yellowing symptoms in plants by slicing a gene that makes chlorophyll, the green pigment in leaves. By preventing the production of chlorophyll, the virus causes the leaves to become partially or entirely yellowed which dramatically affects growth and productivity," Wang said.

Identification of the exact gene affected by the virus called CHL1 is a step toward understanding how viruses cause disease symptoms in susceptible organisms. Researchers can then focus on finding genes in viruses that match known genetic sequences in plants.

View the full article at http://www.csiro.au/news/How-viruses-infect-plants.html