Figure 6.

Effect of temperature on symptom severity of EACMCV on N. benthamiana and cassava, and the level and distribution of virus genome siRNAs in infected cassava plants. A and B, EACMCV symptom severity trend in N. benthamiana (A) and in cassava (B) at three ranges of temperature: 25°C, 25°C to 30°C, and 30°C. Ten N. benthamiana and cassava plants were inoculated as five plants in two experiments. Bars in symptom severity curve indicate se values of 10 plants. C, Effect of temperature on the level and distribution of EACMCV genome siRNA accumulation at three different temperatures. EACMCV has a split genome; the total length of DNA-A is 2,802 bp, and DNA-B has 2,741 bp. Gel blots (first seven segments for DNA-A and second seven segments for DNA-B) were subjected to hybridization using 5′-labeled virus-derived siRNAs purified from EACMCV-infected plants grown at 25°C, 25°C to 30°C, and 30°C. The intensity of signals in the blots was quantified and plotted into graphs. Values on the y axis represent the percentage of siRNAs derived from either DNA-A or DNA-B of EACMCV. Each bar represents the amount of siRNAs for respective DNA segments in comparison to the total amount of siRNAs either for DNA-A or DNA-B. Blots were quantified using image quant (IqMacV1.2) software. Numbers in the x axis indicate the PCR-amplified DNA fragments representing various regions of the EACMCV genome.