A dominant mutation in tomato DNA POLYMERASE DELTA 1 causes geminivirus DNA replication catastrophe
Deri Gustian, Chen-Hsin Yu, Fuh-Jyh Jan, Wilhelm Gruissem · 2026
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Description
Deri Gustian, Chen-Hsin Yu, Fuh-Jyh Jan, and Wilhelm Gruissem explain how a tomato gene poisons a virus from within, in a 2026 paper. Geminiviruses wreck grain and vegetable crops across the world. Tomato breeders borrowed a resistance spot from a wild relative, and it proved to hold a mutant copy of a gene the cell uses to copy its own DNA. The mutant copy rules as a single dose, needing no pair.
Plants with the mutant gene shrug off even a harsh strain of the virus. The change in the protein is small and does not bend its shape. Yet when the virus copies itself in such plants, its DNA fills with faults, and its key proteins break. Adding the mutant gene alone to leaves was enough to scar the viral DNA. The work shows a defense that corrupts the foe's copies until it fails.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Deri Gustian, Chen-Hsin Yu, Fuh-Jyh Jan, Wilhelm Gruissem |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 52 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |