The specific involvement of coat protein in tobacco mosaic virus cross protection.

Nicotiana sylvestris infected by strains of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) causing mosaic can be superinfected in the dark green leaf tissue, but not light green tissue, by necrotizing strains of TMV. The dark green tissue, however, is much less susceptible than healthy tissue, to some extent, even to unrelated viruses. The RNA of necrotizing strains of TMV was relatively more infectious than intact virus on mosaic than on healthy leaves and caused lesions in both light and dark green tissues. The same relationship was found in Nicotiana longiflora and, when the protecting strain in N. sylvestris could be used as a challenge, in Capsicum baccatum. The efficiency of superinfection by RNA was not found with viruses unrelated to TMV. When bentonite at 1 mg/ml, which is known to strip protein from TMV, was included in the inoculum of intact TMV it superinfected in the same manner as RNA. RNA of a necrotizing strain of TMV, encapsidated in brome mosaic virus protein and used as a challenge, superinfected in the same manner as RNA. When encapsidated in common TMV protein, however, it behaved as native virus. Cross protection apparently results from the prevention of uncoating of related challenge virus in light green tissue of N. sylvestris. Locally inoculated N. sylvestris leaves were insusceptible to challenge RNA or intact virus when the protecting virus was increasing. After increase ceased, RNA was more infectious than intact virus.