CUCUMBER MOSAIC VIRUS-ASSOCIATED RNA-5 .13. OPPOSITE NECROGENICITIES IN TOMATO OF VARIANTS WITH LARGE 5' HALF INSERTION DELETION REGIONS

Two satellite RNA of cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) designated J876-CARNA-5 (for cucumber mosaic virus-associated RNA-5) and D27-CARNA-5 have been molecularly and biologically characterized. J876-CARNA-5 (387 nucleotides (nt)) and D27-CARNA-5 (391 nt) have nearly identical 5' half insertion/deletion regions where 120 nt replace approximately 70 nt of D-CARNA-5 (335 nt), the first variant described and sequenced. J876-CARNA-5 possesses the 15-nt conserved sequence element in its 3' half which is present in all tomato necrogenic variants and induces the same level of necrosis in tomatoes as the prototype necrogenic D-CARNA-5. D27-CARNA-5 lacks the 3' half necrosis-determining element and attenuates the CMV symptoms in tomato. Transcripts of cloned cDNA of J876-CARNA-5 were stably propagated in tomato in the presence of CMV-1. Purified J876-CARNA-5 progeny, inoculated with CMV-1 in a quantitative bioassay, induced tomato necrosis at the same dilution level as the natural satellite. Several computer-generated secondary structures of CMV satellites were examined and the possible correlation of a defined secondary structural element with necrosis induction is discussed.