Effects of dicyclohexylamine on polyamine biosynthesis and incorporation into turnip yellow mosaic virus in Chinese cabbage protoplasts infected in vitro

The authors have reported that protoplasts from plants infected with turnip yellow mosaic virus (TYMV) continue to produce virus in culture and that newly formed virus particles contained predominantly newly synthesized spermidine and spermine. They now report similar results with healthy protoplasts infected in vitro, in which essentially all of the virus is newly formed. Again, newly synthesized spermidine and spermine were preferentially incorporated into virus. DCHA inhibited spermidine synthesis by 85%, leading in 20 hr to a 60% depletion of the cellular spermidine and a 30% reduction in the amount of spermidine per virion. Spermine synthesis increased, however, producing a 40% increase in cellular spermine and 50-100% increase in the amount of spermine per virion. Thus, in spite of spermidine depletion, the total positive charge contributed by polyamines to the virus was essentially conserved