Abstract
Full-length infectious DNA clones were constructed for four distinct phenotypic variants of beet curly top virus (BCTV). Southern hybridization assays indicated that each cloned BCTV genome shared sequence homology with pBCT-028, a full-length infectious DNA clone of a California isolate of BCTV previously characterized by others. Restriction endonuclease maps of the cloned BCTV genomes were distinct from one another. Infectivity assays determined that plasmids containing tandem repeats of BCTV genomes were generally more infectious than excised linear DNA inserts. Progeny virus, derived from plants inoculated with cloned DNAs, differed in their ability to infect sugarbeet, Beta vulgaris L., and the severity of symptoms produced in B. vulgaris and other experimental hosts.
† Present address: Ohio State Biotechnology Center, 1060 Carmack Road, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, U.S.A.