Electrotransfection of protoplasts from tomato, wild tomato, barley and chrysanthemum with tobacco mosaic virus RNA.

Protoplasts isolated from tomato, wild tomato, barley and chrysanthemum were electrotransfected with tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) RNA under almost the same optimum electric conditions: five square DC pulses of 50 microseconds duration at 500 to 800 V/cm, with the protoplasts suspended at 2 x 10(5)/ml in 0.5 M-mannitol containing 100 microM-MgCl2 and 10 to 20 micrograms/ml TMV RNA. ELISAs of these transfected protoplasts showed that the yields and the growth curves of the virus were quite similar, indicating a lack of host specificity in the initially infected cells of these plants.