• Korean Journal Plant Pathology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.229-239
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• 1998

Antibodies were raised against fusion proteins of the N-terminus and a region containing the GDNQ (Gly-Asp-Asn-Gln) polymerase motif of the L (polymerase) protein of sonchus yellow net virus (SYNV). Immunoblot analyses using these antibodies revealed the presence of the L protein in purified SYNV preparations and in nuclear extracts from infected tobacco. The serological analyses and detection in a polyacrylamide gels suggested that the L protein is present in at least a 20 fold lower abundance than the G, N, M1 and M2 proteins, and has size corresponding to a molecular weight of over 200 kDa as predicted from nucleotide sequence data. Electron microscopy with gold-labelled antibodies was used to localize the N, M2, and G proteins of SYNV in thin sections of infected tissue. When sections of SYNV-infected tissue were treated with antisera against total SYNV proteins and N protein, gold label could be detected in both the viroplasms and in virus particles. With the anti-M2 protein antiserum, the gold label was strongly localized in the viroplasms but only limited labelling of the virus particle sonly. Limited labelling of the L protein was observed in the viroplasms and the virus particles, presumably because of the low abundance of L protein in the tissues.