Evaluation of transgenic Nicotiana benthamiana R0 lines carrying individual constructs containing L gene conserved region for resistance to the homologous Watermelon silver mottle virus (WSMoV) under greenhouse conditions.

aTransgenic N. benthamiana lines that remained asymptomatic and ELISA negative for WSMoV NP beyond a month after inoculation were considered highly resistant (HR) lines.bTransgenic N. benthamiana lines that showed more than 7 days delay in symptom development in comparison to the non-transformed plants were classified as moderately resistant (MR) lines.cTransgenic N. benthamiana lines that exhibited typical systemic symptoms similar to non-transformed N. benthamiana plants, at the same time or less than 7 days delay after inoculation with WSMoV, were regarded as susceptible (S) lines.dBoth HR and MR lines were considered as resistant (R) lines. The percentages of resistance were expressed as number of R lines/total number of total assayed lines.*A & B: adjacent values that are superscribed by same alphabet are not significantly different as analyzed by chi-square using software JMP 5.0.1 (SAS Institute Inc.) (p