Biomedical subjects

A M Vaira

Publications and source records attributed to A M Vaira.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

The partial sequence of RNA 1 of the ophiovirus Ranunculus white mottle virus indicates its relationship to rhabdoviruses and provides candidate primers for an ophiovirus-specific RT-PCR test.

A 4018 nucleotide sequence was obtained for RNA 1 of Ranunculus white mottle virus (RWMV), genus Ophiovirus, representing an incomplete ORF of 1339 aa. Amino acid sequence analysis revealed significant similarities with RNA polymerases of viruses in the family Rhabdoviridae and a conserved domain of 685 aa, corresponding to the RdRp domain of those in the order Mononegavirales. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the genus Ophiovirus is not related to the genus Tenuivirus or the family Bunyaviridae, with which it has been linked, and probably deserves a special taxonomic position, within a new family. A pair of degenerate primers was designed from a consensus sequence obtained from a relatively conserved region in the RNA 1 of two members of the genus, Citrus psorosis virus (CPsV) and RWMV. The primers, used in RT-PCR experiments, amplified a 136 bp DNA fragment from all the three recognized members of the genus, i.e. CPsV, RWMV and Tulip mild mottle mosaic virus (TMMMV) and from two tentative ophioviruses from lettuce and freesia. The amplified DNAs were sequenced and compared with the corresponding sequences of CPsV and RWMV and phylogenetic relationships were evaluated. Assays using extracts from plants infected by viruses belonging to the genera Tospovirus, Tenuivirus, Rhabdovirus and Varicosavirus indicated that the primers are genus-specific.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2000

An Ophiovirus isolated from lettuce with big-vein symptoms.

Big-vein is a widespread and damaging disease of lettuce, transmitted through soil by the chytrid fungus Olpidium brassicae, and generally supposed to be caused by Lettuce big-vein virus (LBVV; genus Varicosavirus). This virus is reported to have rigid rod-shaped particles, a divided double-stranded RNA genome, and one capsid protein of 48 kD, but has not been isolated or rigorously shown to cause the disease. We provide evidence that a totally different virus, here named Mirafiori lettuce virus (MiLV), is also very frequently associated with lettuce showing big-vein symptoms. MiLV was mechanically transmissible from lettuce to Chenopodium quinoa and to several other herbaceous test plants. The virus was partially purified, and an antiserum prepared, which did not react with LBVV particles in decoration tests. As reported for LBVV, MiLV was labile, soil-transmitted and had a single capsid protein of 48 kD, but the particles morphologically resembled those of ophioviruses, and like these, MiLV had a genome of three RNA segments approximately 8.5, 1.9 and 1.7 kb in size. MiLV preparations reacted strongly in Western blots and in ISEM with antiserum to Tulip mild mottle mosaic virus, an ophiovirus from Japan also apparently Olpidium-transmitted. They reacted weakly but clearly in Western blots with antiserum to Ranunculus white mottle virus, another ophiovirus. When lettuce seedlings were mechanically inoculated with crude or partially purified extracts from MiLV-infected test plants, many became systemically infected with MiLV and some developed big-vein symptoms. Such plants did not react in ELISA using an LBVV antiserum or an antiserum to tobacco stunt virus, and varicosavirus-like particles were never seen in them in the EM after negative staining. We conclude that MiLV is a hitherto undescribed virus assignable to the genus Ophiovirus. The cause or causes of lettuce big-vein disease and the properties of LBVV may need to be re-evaluated in light of our results.

Blotting, Northern↗

PubMed2000

Peptide-derived broad-reacting antisera against tospovirus NSs-protein.

Sequence alignments of tospovirus species of serogroup I to IV revealed a stretch of 24 amino acids at the C terminus of the non-structural protein NSs with a highly conserved sequence. Based on this sequence the 24 amino acids peptide YFLSKTLEVLPKNLQTMSYLDSIQC was synthesized and used to raise antisera in two rabbits. The specificity of the antisera against NSs from infected plants was confirmed with Western blots and by immunogold labelling and electron microscopy. These antisera detected tospovirus isolates of serogroup I to III in antigen-coated plate ELISA and Western blots but failed to detect isolates of serogroup IV. Epitope scanning using overlapping octopeptides composing the peptide suggested that the antisera contained antibodies against two different epitopes. Strongly reacting peptides were found at the C-terminus of the original peptide sequence when probing with one of the antisera. In this part the sequence was homologous to serogroup I, II and III, with all deviations from serogroup IV located here. Additional octopeptides, based on this region, synthesized with sequence modifications back to the serogroup IV sequence in all possible combinations, had low reactivity. However two of the modified peptides with partly restored serogroup IV sequences revealed promising reactivity and could be suitable to raise an antiserum with broader reactivity, including serogroup IV.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1998

Amino acids in the capsid protein of tomato yellow leaf curl virus that are crucial for systemic infection, particle formation, and insect transmission.

A functional capsid protein (CP) is essential for host plant infection and insect transmission in monopartite geminiviruses. We studied two defective genomic DNAs of tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), Sic and SicRcv. Sic, cloned from a field-infected tomato, was not infectious, whereas SicRcv, which spontaneously originated from Sic, was infectious but not whitefly transmissible. A single amino acid change in the CP was found to be responsible for restoring infectivity. When the amino acid sequences of the CPs of Sic and SicRcv were compared with that of a closely related wild-type virus (TYLCV-Sar), differences were found in the following positions: 129 (P in Sic and SicRcv, Q in Sar), 134 (Q in Sic and Sar, H in SicRcv) and 152 (E in Sic and SicRcv, D in Sar). We constructed TYLCV-Sar variants containing the eight possible amino acid combinations in those three positions and tested them for infectivity and transmissibility. QQD, QQE, QHD, and QHE had a wild-type phenotype, whereas PHD and PHE were infectious but nontransmissible. PQD and PQE mutants were not infectious; however, they replicated and accumulated CP, but not virions, in Nicotiana benthamiana leaf discs. The Q129P replacement is a nonconservative change, which may drastically alter the secondary structure of the CP and affect its ability to form the capsid. The additional Q134H change, however, appeared to compensate for the structural modification. Sequence comparisons among whitefly-transmitted geminiviruses in terms of the CP region studied showed that combinations other than QQD are present in several cases, but never with a P129.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1997

Partial characterization of a new virus from ranunculus with a divided RNA genome and circular supercoiled thread-like particles.

An undescribed virus, here named ranunculus white mottle virus, was isolated in Italy from cultivated ranunculus showing mottle and distortion of leaves. The virus was mechanically transmissible to several herbaceous hosts. In negative stain, the particles appeared as circularised supercoiled threads 3 nm in diameter of different contour lengths; in some conditions the circles collapsed to form linear pseudobranched structures 9 nm in diameter. Immunolabeling of thin sections showed that viral antigen was widely distributed in the cytoplasm of parenchyma cells. The virus was not serologically related to the morphologically similar tenuiviruses, citrus psorosis-ringspot virus and tulip mild mottle mosaic virus. A major 43 kDa protein was present in purified preparations and in infected plant tissue, as also was a minor 28 kDa protein, serologically related to the major one. Nucleic acids extracted from purified particles consisted of at least three RNAs, of approximately 7.5, 1.8 and 1.5 kb, which appeared partly in single- and partly in double-stranded form. Purified preparations, but not viral RNAs, when mechanically inoculated, were infectious. Host range, tissue tropism, particle morphology and coat protein size place the virus closest to citrus psorosis-ringspot and tulip mild mottle mosaic viruses. These three viruses in turn show similarities with the Tenuiviruses and Bunyaviridae.

Capsid↗

PubMed1996

A polyclonal antiserum against a recombinant viral protein combines specificity with versatility.

A polyclonal rabbit antiserum was obtained to the nucleoprotein of tomato spotted wilt tospovirus expressed as a recombinant fusion protein in E. coli. In indirect plate trapping ELISA, the antiserum gave similar titres against purified TSWV nucleocapsids in native form, the fusion protein and the carrier protein. The crude antiserum was also tested by Western blotting, indirect plate trapping ELISA and immunogold electron microscopy of thin sections: purified immunoglobulins were tested by DAS-ELISA. In all cases, with both glasshouse and field material, the antibodies had good detectability and specificity. By ELISA and Western blots against other tospoviruses, impatiens necrotic spot and groundnut bud necrosis viruses did not react but there was a reaction with groundnut ringspot virus, reflecting the nucleoprotein amino acid sequence similarity. These antibodies combine specificity to the target protein and versatility with regard to all the more important serological techniques. There were no undesired reactions resulting from immunization using a complex virus purified from infected host material.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Opposite effect of tumor necrosis factor alpha on granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor-dependent growth of normal and leukemic hemopoietic progenitors.

The effect of recombinant human tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) on normal and chronic myeloid leukemia granulocyte-macrophage progenitors (CFU-GM) growing in semisolid agar cultures in the presence of recombinant granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor was studied. Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor-dependent growth of normal and chronic myeloid leukemia bone marrow CFU-GM was greatly enhanced by TNF-alpha at doses of 0.1 to 100 units/ml. Growth enhancement included neutrophil, eosinophil, and monocyte-macrophage colonies and clusters at 7 and 14 days of culture. Since similar results were achieved with highly enriched progenitor cell populations, devoid of accessory cells, an indirect effect on CFU-GM growth through the release by accessory cells of other cytokines upon TNF-alpha stimulation was thus ruled out. By contrast, the same doses of TNF-alpha inhibited the growth of normal CFU-GM in granulocyte colony-stimulating factor-dependent cultures. Taken together, our findings indicate that the final effect of TNF-alpha on normal bone marrow granulocyte-macrophage progenitor growth is dependent on the specific growth factor interacting with it, and that both normal and chronic myeloid leukemia CFU-GM are equally responsive to the combined effects of TNF-alpha and a given colony-stimulating factor.

Bone Marrow↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Using non-radioactive probes on plants: a few examples.

Due to costs in using and disposing of radiochemicals and to health considerations, we have been developing applications which include non-isotopic detection of DNA and proteins using chemiluminescence. Our major interests are in the detection of viral nucleic acids and in the analysis of transgenic plants. Generally, probes were labelled with digoxigenin, either by the random priming method or by PCR, and then detected with CSPD or CDP-Star. We routinely use a tissue blotting protocol for diagnosing TYLCV, a plant virus becoming a post in the Mediterranean region. Test results were comparable with those using the same radiolabelled probe. When total nucleic acids are extracted from the plant samples and used in dot-blot or Southern blot assays, viral DNAs are promptly detected by chemiluminescence. In transgenic plants, chemiluminescence was used to detect the transgene on genomic Southern blots, the transgenic mRNAs on Northern blots, and the transgenic protein on Western blots. In Southern and Northern blots, the quality of the results obtained was usually satisfactory, but not as good as with a radiolabelled probe, the main problem being the signal-to-background ratio. Our goal is now to improve the quality of results in demanding applications such as genomic Southern blots, by reducing the background on membranes.

Adamantane↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Resistance to tospoviruses in Nicotiana benthamiana transformed with the N gene of tomato spotted wilt virus: correlation between transgene expression and protection in primary transformants.

Nicotiana benthamiana was transformed with the nucleoprotein (N) gene of an Italian isolate of tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV). Forty-five T1 primary transformant lines were analyzed for the expression of N protein and for resistance to TSWV and three other tospoviruses: impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV), groundnut bud necrosis virus (GBNV), and groundnut ringspot virus (GRSV). Thirteen of these lines were further characterized. Resistance to all TSWV isolates tested was found in two lines. The expression of the transgene (N mRNA) was lower in these resistant lines than in any of the susceptible lines, and the transgene N protein was either absent or present below detectable levels. These lines were susceptible to the other tospoviruses tested, but they developed symptoms milder than controls when inoculated with GRSV. Some of the lines producing high levels of N protein showed delays (of 2-3 weeks) in symptom expression with at least one of the TSWV isolates tested and symptom delay or attenuation with INSV or GRSV (or both). From our results it appears that high expression of TSWV N protein retards, in some cases, disease development by TSWV and INSV. In contrast, the lack of detectable expression of the transgenic N protein, accompanied by limited production of N transcripts, conferred TSWV-specific resistance.

Base Sequence↗