Identification of the coat protein gene of tomato golden mosaic virus

1 Department of Pure and Applied Biology and 2 Department of Biochemistry, Imperial College of Science and Technology, London SW7 2AZ, U.K. An open reading frame, designated AR1, on DNA component A of tomato golden mosaic virus has been identified as the virus coat protein gene on the basis of the molecular weight and amino acid composition of the virus capsid polypeptide, the mass spectra and N-terminal sequences of peptides produced by cyanogen bromide cleavage of the capsid polypeptide and by the binding of antibodies, induced by immunization of a rabbit with a -galactosidase-AR1 fusion protein, to the capsid polypeptide in a Western blot. Keywords: geminivirus, TGMV, coat protein gene Present address: Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, U.S.A. Received 4 December 1987; accepted 15 February 1988.