Research

Inhibition of Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus (TYLCV) using whey proteins

Ashraf M Abdelbacki¹ , Soad H Taha² , Mahmoud Z Sitohy³ , Abdelgawad I Abou Dawood² , Mahmoud M Abd-El Hamid² and Adel A Rezk⁴

¹  Plant Pathology Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza 12613, Egypt

²  Dairy Science Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza 12613, Egypt

³  Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

⁴  Virus and Mycoplasma Department, Agriculture Research Center, Giza 12619, Egypt

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Virology Journal 2010, 7:26doi:10.1186/1743-422X-7-26

Published:	3 February 2010

Abstract

The antiviral activity of native and esterified whey proteins fractions (α-lactalbumin, β-lactoglobulin, and lactoferrin) was studied to inhibit tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) on infected tomato plants. Whey proteins fractions and their esterified derivatives were sprayed into TYLCV-infected plants. Samples were collected from infected leaves before treatment, 7 and 15 days after treatment for DNA and molecular hybridization analysis. The most evident inhibition of virus replication was observed after 7 and 15 days using α-lactoferrin and α-lactalbumin, respectively. Native and esterified lactoferrin showed complete inhibition after 7 days. On the other hand, native β-lactoglobulin showed inhibition after 7 and 15 days whereas esterified β-lactoglobulin was comparatively more effective after 7 days. The relative amount of viral DNA was less affected by the esterified α-lactalbumin whereas native α-lactalbumin inhibited virus replication completely after 15 days. These results indicate that native or modified whey proteins fractions can be used for controlling the TYLCV-infected plants.