Nematode transmission of tobacco rattle virus serves as a bottleneck to clear the virus population from defective interfering RNAs.

DI7 is a defective interfering RNA derived from RNA 2 of tobacco rattle tobravirus (TRV) isolate PpK20. Tobacco was transformed with DI7 cDNA fused to the CaMV 35S promoter. Upon infection of the transgenic plants with TRV isolate PpK20 or the serologically unrelated isolate PaY4, the transgenic DI7 RNA started to accumulate at high levels and strongly interfered with accumulation of wild-type (wt) RNA 2. When DI7 transgenic plants infected with isolate PpK20 were used as source plants in nematode-transmission experiments, the vector Paratrichodorus pachydermus efficiently transmitted virus to healthy bait plants. However, the nematodes transmitted only the wt virus present in the transgenic source plants, whereas virus particles containing the abundant, accumulated DI7 RNA were excluded from transmission. Evidence is presented that wt RNA 2 and DI7 RNA are encapsidated in cis by their encoded CPs, which are known to be functional and nonfunctional in transmission, respectively. This mechanism would result in defective interfering RNAs, which rapidly arise after mechanical transmission of the virus in the laboratory, being eliminated from tobraviruses under natural field conditions. Also this mechanism which acts with nematode transmitted virus isolates contrasts with that of vector-transmission of defective potyviruses and luteoviruses by wt helper viruses.