Radian-Sade, S., Otto Warburg Ctr. for Biotechnology, Virus Laboratory, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 76100, Israel
Perl, A., Dept. of Horticulture, ARO, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Edelbaum, O., Otto Warburg Ctr. for Biotechnology, Virus Laboratory, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 76100, Israel
Kuznetsova, L., Otto Warburg Ctr. for Biotechnology, Virus Laboratory, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 76100, Israel
Gafny, R., Dept. of Virology, ARO, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Sela, I., Otto Warburg Ctr. for Biotechnology, Virus Laboratory, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 76100, Israel
Tanne, E., Dept. of Virology, ARO, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel

As part of a project to construct virus-resistant transgenic grapevines, grapevine virus A (GVA) coat protein (CP) sequences were introduced into grapevine and the model plant Nicotiana benthamiana. The engineered constructs were tested for their ability to engender resistance in N. benthamiana. A number of GVA-CP-transformed N. benthamiana lines have become resistant to GVA. Preliminary biological and molecular analyses strongly suggest that in most cases the obtained resistance is RNA-mediated. Several lines of transgenic grapevine were obtained.