Structural and functional characterization of sesbania mosaic virus

Abstract

The genus Sobemovirus includes isometric, single-stranded positive sense RNA plant viruses that infect monocots and dicots. Sesbania mosaic virus (SeMV) is the only sobemovirus, which has been studied extensively in India. SeMV, which was identified in southern India, is highly stable and multiplies to high concentration causing mosaic symptoms on the leaves of Sesbania grandiflora. SeMV has served as a good model for understanding the molecular mechanism of assembly, replication and movement of sobemoviruses. The structure of the virion and other chimeric VLPs, along with biochemical investigations has resulted in the elucidation of the mechanism of assembly of SeMV. The complete genome sequence, structure and function of non-structural proteins have also been determined. The review presents a summary of all these findings. SeMV being non-toxic and biodegradable and of low immune response, has been shown as a good candidate for biomedical applications.