Field Testing of Cucumber Plants Which Express the CMV Coat Protein Gene: Field Plot Design to Test Natural Infection Pressures

The development of plants which are tolerant to virus infections has been shown by the expression of the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) coat protein gene in transgenic tobacco plants (1). However, TMV is not the most prevalent or severe virus TMV. A more important virus pest, with respect to crop losses, is the cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) which is known to have a very broad host range including both monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants, as well as being widely distributed throughout the world (2).