A 54 kDa band (P54) was continually detected with the 30 kDa viral capsid protein (CP) on the SDS-PAGE migration profile of purified potato virus Y (PVY). P54 was observed following the use of two different procedures for the purification of the PVY from infected tobacco. It was a constitutively expressed tobacco protein. The analysis of the PVY preparation showed that P54 has aggregation properties and precipitates, thus pulling down the virus. We used an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to study the relationship between P54 and the PVY particles. We performed an inhibition test with monoclonal antibodies (mAb) directed against the PVY-CP, to show that these two components interact. This result was confirmed by western blot. The internal sequence of five major peptides, obtained by C-lysine endoprotease digestion of the P54 followed by HPLC separation, showed 100% homology with the large subunit of the ribulose-1,5-biphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RubisCO-LSU) of tobacco. MAb directed against RubisCO-LSU were produced and used to reveal the RubisCO-LSU/PVY complex in infected tobacco extracts. A phage library displaying random heptapeptides was used to isolate several peptides that specifically bound to the native form of the PVY. The sequences of thirty-three phage-displayed peptides, which bound specifically to this virus, present further discontinuous sequence homologies with the RubisCO-LSU. Five peptides (p1 to p5) corresponding to the RubisCO-LSU homologous regions were used for a bacterial two-hybrid system to confirm in vivo direct interactions between the selected RubisCO-LSU regions and the PVY-CP. We propose that the PVY-CP may be involved in the production of mosaics and yellowing symptoms in tobacco through its interaction with RubisCO-LSU. Abbreviations: AC

The Potato virus Y (PVY) is one of the most damaging viruses in cultivated potatoes and other Solanaceous crops. In this work, we studied the molecular phylogeny and the genetic variability of 107 PVY isolates selected from "GeneBank" which classification and country origins have been mentioned. The general phylogenetic profile reveals six main genetic clusters of PVY. However, the tree did not highlight a distribution of the PVY according to his geographic isolation. The genetic divergence within and between the deduced groups and subgroups shows that the minimum inter-group genetic divergence is 11%. The alignments of the deduced amino-acids sequence define consensus for each strain group as well as specific differences between them. The specific amino-acids residues of each strain group were highlighted.