Abstract
Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) is the best analysed member of the caulimoviruses, a group of small isometric plant viruses that contain a circular double-stranded genome (for review see ref. 1). As most plant viruses have an RNA rather than a DNA genome, caulimoviruses have attracted considerable interest due to their potential use as genetic vectors for plants. DNA purified from CaMV particles can infect plants and cause virus production when rubbed over the surface of susceptible leaves2. Moreover, the entire chromosome of several CaMV strains can be propagated through bacterial hosts by plasmid and phage λ vectors and has been used successfully to infect plants3,4. Recently, Howell et al.5 reported the insertion of an 8-base pair (bp) EcoRI linker molecule into the large ‘intergenic’ region of cloned CaMV strain CM 4-184 DNA without impairment of infectivity. Here we report the successful propagation of foreign DNA in plants using cauliflower mosaic virus as vector. We find that the size of foreign DNA that can be successfully propagated through virus particles has an upper limit of ∼250 base pairs.
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Gronenborn, B., Gardner, R., Schaefer, S. et al. Propagation of foreign DNA in plants using cauliflower mosaic virus as vector. Nature 294, 773–776 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/294773a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/294773a0
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