Figure 3.

The effect of mechanical wounding on viral gene expression. Nicotiana benthamiana plants were co‐infiltrated with Agrobacterium carrying PVA^WT and firefly luciferase (FLUC). Agrobacterium‐infiltrated leaves were either dusted with carborundum beneath the leaves and wounded by rubbing at 1 day post‐infiltration (DPI) (15 plants) (A) or left without this treatment (15 plants) (B). Samples were collected at 2 and 3 DPI, and Renilla luciferase (RLUC) and FLUC activities were measured. The columns represent the average FLUC activity (A, B) and the normalized PVA^WT‐derived RLUC activity (C, D). The error bars represent the standard deviation of the mean. The relative level of wounding‐induced enhancement in FLUC (E) and RLUC (F) gene expression is also shown. The untreated control was assigned the relative value of unity.