Tobacco mosaic virus

The tobacco mosaic virus (TMV ) is a 300 nm long and 18 nm thick tubular virus consists of single stranded RNA of about 6400 bases, and from about 2100 identical coat proteins. It infects only plants, including tobacco, but also peppers, and tomatoes. The TMV gained historical importance as a disease transmission could be detected without the involvement of bacteria with him for the first time.

History

As the oldest sources of German Adolf Mayer (1882 ) in the Netherlands and Dimitri Ivanovski (1892 ) are called in Russia. Mayer and Ivanovsky demonstrated that the mosaic disease of tobacco plants can be transferred through a bacteria-free extract from diseased tobacco leaves on healthy plants (horizontal transmission). Six years later finding by the Dutch Martinus Willem Beijerinck was confirmed.

1935, the virus was first isolated and crystallized. In its aqueous solutions, a team led by John Desmond Bernal found 1936 liquid crystalline states in which the rod-shaped viruses are largely parallel. The discovery of the protein of TMV double glazing and further structural elucidation of such nucleic acid-protein complexes by Aaron Klug with the further he developed crystallographic electron microscopy was honored in 1982 by the Nobel Prize.

Hosts and dissemination

The tobacco mosaic virus causes the economically important disease of tobacco mosaic. It infects beyond a large number of agricultural crops and ornamental plants from more than 9 plant families. It is very easily transmitted, eg by direct contact between plants, by plant sap, in some plants by seed and mainly through agricultural cultural practices in the handling of infected plants. It is extremely heat stable unlike many other plant viruses. Because of these characteristics, it is probably one of the most prevalent viruses worldwide and not coincidentally the first virus ever described.

Chlorosis by TMV in Euphorbia viguieri

TMV virus Super Resolution Microscopy

Use as Biotransistor

In current research, the tobacco mosaic virus is used as a tool for advanced electronic components in nanotechnology to develop a field-effect transistor. This is caused by a biomineralization process, a semiconductor layer on the tobacco mosaic virus.