journal of kerbala university

This study was conducted to determine an active isolation method for obtaining a new isolate of Potato mop-top virus (PMTV) from soil and applying biological (Bioassay), immunological (TAS-ELSIA) and molecular methods (RT-PCR + qRT-PCR + Nucleotide Sequencing (for diagnosing it. This is in order to utilize the new isolate in evaluation of the gene silencing method in resistance of the PMTV in transgenic N. benthamiana plants. The results showed that the liquid method was the most effective approach in obtaining PMTV viral infection in all tested plants. Additionally, the diagnosing methods confirmed that the isolate belong to PMTV and it had a high pathogenicity. The results also displayed no significant differences between the transgenic and non-transgenic N. benthamiana plants in resistance of PMTV in roots or leaves of tested plants. These results referred to a weakness of gene silencing method in resistance of the PMTV. This is possibly due to impact of the PMTV suppressor that might cause a reduction or prevention to the gene silencing efficacy in resistance of PMTV.