Characterization of a tomato karyopherin α that interacts with the Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus (TYLCV) capsid protein

A karyopherin α (LeKAPα1) cDNA was isolated from tomato plants. The deduced LeKAPα1 protein sequence of 527 amino acids showed similarity to other plant karyopherin α proteins. When LeKAPα1 was expressed in a yeast two-hybrid system together with the gene coding for the capsid protein (CP) of the tomato yellow curl leaf virus (TYLCV), it interacted directly with CP. Thus, LeKAPα1 may be involved in the nuclear import of TYLCV CP and, potentially, the TYLCV genomes during viral infection of the host tomato cells.