Biotechnological approaches to protection against Cymbidium mosaic virus

摘要

Cymbidium mosaic virus (CymMV) is a major pathogen affecting commercial orchid production operations and hobbyists. This virus is globally endemic and is easily transmitted during handling of infected plants and materials. Whilst good management practices can avoid spread of the disease, this also relies on effective early detection which may be difficult due to late onset of symptoms. Biotechnology may be used to address this problem at a number of levels; the development of sensitive and inexpensive diagnostic procedures which are practical to implement on site; the development of novel preventative treatments and the development of new varieties with improved resistance to the virus. We have been investigating the identification of short peptides which could be used as inexpensive diagnostic reagents. A novel method for the isolation of viral coat protein specific peptides has been developed using superparamagnetic beads. This resulted in the identification of a peptide with specificity for CymMV and several other peptides which are able to detect both CymMV and Odontoglossum ringspot virus (ORSV). Research findings on the use of virus coat-protein mediated resistance both towards the development of transgenic plants and for application as RNA interference are also discussed.