Evidence for Two Nonoverlapping Functional Domains in the Potato Virus X 25K Movement Protein

To study subdomain organization of the potato virus X (PVX) movement protein (MP) encoded by the first gene in the triple gene block (TGB), we mutated the 25-kDa TGBp1 protein. The N-terminal deletion of the helicase motifs I, IA, and II resulted in loss of the ATPase activity and RNA binding. A frameshift mutation truncating the C-terminal motifs V and VI gave rise to increase of the TGBp1 ATPase activity and had little effect on RNA binding in vitro. Fusions of the green fluorescent protein with 25-kDa MP and its derivative lacking motifs V–VI exhibited similar fluorescence patterns in epidermal cells of Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. Cell-to-cell movement of the 25K-deficient PVX genome was not complemented by the TGBp1 of Plantago asiatica mosaic potexvirus (PlAMV) but was efficiently complemented by a chimeric TGBp1 consisting of the N-terminal part of PlAMV protein (motifs I–IV) and the PVX-specific C-terminal part (motifs V–VI). These results suggest that NTP hydrolysis, RNA binding, and targeting to the specific cellular compartment(s) are associated with the N-terminal domain of the TGBp1 including the helicase motifs I–IV and that the C-terminal domain is involved in specific interactions with other virus proteins.