Symptom production on tobacco and tomato is determined by two distinct domains of the satellite RNA of cucumber mosaic virus (strain Y).

Complementary DNAs of two different satellite RNA isolates from cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), Y from Japan and Ra from France, have been cloned in a transcription vector containing the Pr promoter. When inoculated on plants with CMV RNA (strain KIN), the transcripts of the cloned Y satellite cDNA elicit a bright yellow mosaic on tobacco and a lethal necrosis on tomato. Addition of the transcripts of the Ra satellite cDNA to an inoculum of CMV RNA resulted in symptom attenuation on both tobacco and tomato, in agreement with the characterized symptoms of the natural satellite. Recombinant molecules involving these two satellites have been constructed in order to determine which parts of the Y satellite RNA are involved in symptom induction. The determinant for symptom production on tobacco lies in the region between nucleotides 1 and 219. The domain for necrotic symptoms on tomato resides on the 3' half of the molecule beyond nucleotide 219.