Cotton leaf curl Multan betasatellite as a plant gene delivery vector trans-activated by taxonomically diverse geminiviruses

Cotton leaf curl Multan betasatellite (CLCuMB) replicates in tobacco, tomato and datura plants in the presence of the helper viruses tomato leaf curl virus-Australia, Iranian isolates of tomato yellow leaf curl virus, tomato leaf curl Karnataka virus, and beet severe curly top virus (BSCTV). Infectious recombinant CLCuMB constructs were made in which segments of either the CaMV 35S or the petunia ChsA promoter replaced the CLCuMB βC1 ORF, and these were designated pBinβΔC1-35S and pBinβΔC1-ChsA, respectively. Inoculation of tobacco plants containing a functional 35S-GUS transgene with pBinβΔC1-35S, and normal petunia plants with pBinβΔC1-ChsA, in the presence of helper viruses resulted in silencing of GUS and ChsA activities in transgenic tobacco and non-transgenic petunia plants, respectively. Replication of CLCuMB with different geminiviruses, especially BSCTV, a curtovirus with a broad host range, makes it a valuable gene delivery vector to the large number of host plant species of geminiviruses that support CLCuMB.