Characterization of a tomato karyopherin α that interacts with the Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus (TYLCV) capsid protein

A karyopherin alpha (LeKAP alpha 1) cDNA was isolated from tomato plants. The deduced LeKAP alpha 1 protein sequence of 527 amino acids showed similarity to other plant karyopherin alpha proteins. When LeKAP alpha 1 was expressed in a yeast two-hybrid system together with the gene coding for the capsid protein (CP) of the tomato yellow curl leaf virus (TYLCV), it interacted directly with CP. Thus, LeKAP alpha 1 may be involved in the nuclear import of TYLCV CP and, potentially, the TYLCV genomes during viral infection of the host tomato cells.