ABSTRACT
Alfalfa mosaic virus is now the generally accepted name for the virus in Anglo-Saxon literature but many languages have etymological equivalents of lucerne used in the virus name: French, virus de la mosaique de la luzerne; German, Luzerne-Mosaikvirus; Dutch, luzernemozaiekvirus; Czech, virusu mozaiky lucerny. This chapter discusses the RNA-protein interactions between viral RNA and coat protein that play an important role at least at two stages of the infection cycle of AlMV: at the very beginning and at the final stage of encapsidation. Coat protein is necessary for the start of an infection process both in entire plants and in leaf cell protoplasts. Also the RNA replication in protoplasts inoculated with the largest two genomic RNAs is dependent on coat protein. The virions of AlMV, when incubated with ribonuclease A or trypsin, undergo degradative changes which untimately lead to a loss of the bacilliform structure.
