It's also important to know whether recombined viruses go through an evolutionary spurt perhaps to become more competitive. To answer these questions the lab created recombinant viruses in the test tube. They chose two tobamoviruses for this investigation because they are probably the most intensely studied plant viruses. One, a TVCV with a movement protein gene from TMV, received particular attention. Adaptive changes in its sequence that occur during serial passage are being examined.
Fitness is measured in protoplasts of cultured cells and in plants.
In plants, the level of accumulation of virus is dependent on the physiological-developmental state of the leaf and on the presence of competing viruses. Complementation of viral movement Virus infection begins with infection of a single cell of the plant. The infection, if not checked by plant defense responses, spreads to other parts of the plant. This spread occurs by movement from cell to cell and through the vascular system of the plant. Cell to cell spread, for most viruses and most plants, requires virus-encoded proteins called movement proteins.