Faculty of Virology

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T. Erik Mirkov
Professor
Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology

Education:
B.S. University of California, Riverside. Botany 1981
M.Sc. University of California, Riverside Plant Pathology 1984
Ph.D. University of California, Riverside Plant Pathology 1988

Research Description:
The research in my laboratory has both an applied aspect and a basic aspect. The main emphasis of the applied research is to incorporate viral resistance genes into crops important to south Texas agriculture using transgenic plant technologies. We have used pathogen derived resistance approaches to create transgenic citrus and sugarcane plants that are resistant to the main viruses causing economic losses in these crops. We are also expressing novel lectins and lytic proteins in transgenic plants for the control of insect viral vectors and phytopathogenic bacteria. Currently, there are projects in both sugarcane and citrus.

In addition to using pathogen derived resistance approaches to create transgenic citrus resistant to Citrus tristeza virus, the most important virus of citrus worldwide, we are developing and utilizing positional cloning methods to isolate viral resistance genes from citrus and citrus relatives. A major effort in the lab has an overall objective to use positional cloning methods to isolate a dominant gene (Ctv) from the trifoliate orange that causes resistance to all know isolates of Citrus tristeza virus. Starting with a genetic linkage map spanning 1.8 cM, and a subsequent chromosome walk of 1.2 Mb, we have narrowed down the genomic region that must contain Ctv to 125 kb, which contains eight candidate genes.

Another major emphasis in the lab is to identify and characterize host proteins involved in the dsRNA mediated antiviral defense pathway. Many different plant viral proteins have been identified as suppressors of this RNA silencing defense pathway. We have identified and are using suppressors encoded by sugarcane viruses as molecular probes to isolate plant proteins in the RNA silencing pathway. To date, five different proteins (including a protein able to bind RNA) have been isolated. Furthermore, using newly developed in vivo assays we have confirmed that the host RNA binding protein and a interacting host 14-3-3 protein are required for RNA silencing. This approach will allow us to dissect this very important RNA surveillance, targeting, and degradation pathway.

Representative Publications
Ingelbrecht, I. L., Mirkov, T. E., Dixon, A. G., and Menkir, A. (2006) Epigenetic Lessons from Transgenic Plants. In: Floriculture, Ornamental and Plant Biotechnology Volume II. Global Science Books, UK. pp. 88-97.

Rassaby, L., Royer, M., Borg, Z., Braithwaite, K., Mirkov, T.E., Perrier, X., Smith, G.R., and Rott, P. (2006). Yellow leaf of sugarcane is caused by at least three different genotypes of Sugarcane yellow leaf virus, one of which predominates on the Island of Réunion. Archives of Virology (DOI: 10.1007/s00705-005-0712-9)

Herron, C. M., Mirkov, T. E., da Graça, J. V, and Lee, R. FC. (2006). Citrus tristeza virus transmission by the Toxoptera citricida vector: in-vitro acquisition and transmission and infectivity immunoneutralization experiments. Journal of Virological Methods 134: 205-206.

T. Erik Mirkov, Zhong-Nan Yang, Mamta Rai, Joe J. Molina, Mikeal L. Roose and Xin-Rong Ye. (2006). Towards positional cloning of the Citrus tristeza virus resistance gene. In: Citrus tristeza virus complex and Tristeza diseases. A.V. Karasev and M.E. Hilf, editors. APS Press. (In Press).

Vives, M. C., Rubio, L., Sambade, A., Mirkov, T. E., Moreno, P. and Guerri, J. (2005). Evidence of multiple recombination events between two RNA sequence variants within a Citrus tristeza virus isolate. Virology 331: 232-237.

R. Ming, P. H. Moore, K. K. Wu, A. DíHont, J. C. Glaszmann, T. L. Tew, T. E. Mirkov, J. da Silva, J. Jifon, M. Rai, R. J. Schnell, S. M. Brumbley, P. Lakshmanan, J. C. Comstock, and A. H. Paterson. (2005). Sugarcane improvement through breeding and biotechnology. Plant Breeding Reviews 27: 15-118.

Ma, H., Schulze, S., Lee, S., Yang, M., Mirkov, T. E., Irvine, J., Moore, P., and Paterson, A. H. 2004. An EST survey of the sugarcane transcriptome. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 108: 851-863.

Yang, Z. N., Ye, X. R., Molina, J., Roose, M. L. and Mirkov, T. E. 2003. Sequence analysis of a 282-kb region surrounding the Citrus tristeza virus resistance gene (Ctv) locus in Poncirus trifoliata. Plant Physiology 131: 482-492.

Yang, M., Bower, R., Burow, M. D., Paterson, A. H. and Mirkov, T. E. 2003. A rapid and direct approach to identify promoters that confer high-levels of gene expression in monocots. Crop Science 43: 1805-1813.

Moonan, F., and Mirkov, T. E. 2002. Analyses of genotypic diversity of North, South and Central American isolates of Sugarcane yellow leaf virus: Evidence for Colombian origins and spatial phylogenetic variation within the species. Journal of Virology 76:1339-1348.K-B. G. Scholthof, T. E. Mirkov, and H. B. Scholthof (2002). Plant Viral Gene Vectors: Biotechnology Applications in Agriculture and Medicine. In: J. K. Setlow (Ed.), Genetic Engineering: Principles and Methods. 24: 67-85.

Butterfield, M. K., Irvine, J. E., Valdez Garza, M. and Mirkov, T. E. 2002. Inheritance and segregation of herbicide and virus resistance transgenes in sugarcane. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 104: 797-803.

T. Erik Mirkov 2002. The Molecular Basis of Crop Improvement and Genetic Engineering. In: Chrispeels M. J. and Sadava D. (Eds.), Plants, Genes and Crop Biotechnology, Second Edition. pp. 124-151.

Zhong-Nan Yang and T. Erik Mirkov (2002) Isolation of large terminal sequences of BAC inserts based on double-restriction-enzyme digestion followed by anchored PCR. In: Chen B. Y. and Jones (Eds.), PCR Cloning Protocols, Second Edition, Methods in Molecular Biology. 192: 337-342.

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