Development of a heterologous gene expression vector in plants based on an infectious clone of a tobravirus, pepper ringspot virus

Heterologous gene expression systems are important tools for biotechnology, especially due to the increasing demands for mass production of pharmaceutical proteins. In this study, we assessed the use of the infectious clone of a tobravirus, pepper ringspot virus (PepRSV), as a heterologous gene expression tool in Nicotiana benthamiana plants. The insert region of gene of interest was evaluated in the infectious clone of PepRSV using the reporter gene encoding the green fluorescent protein (GFP). The insertion of the GFP gene in the coat protein gene region resulted in a higher protein yield than the previous system. Then, the reporter gene was replaced by the xylanase gene, and enzymatically active xylanase was produced. This study provides an efficient tool for the production of heterologous proteins using a plant system.