Fluorescent protein recruitment assay for demonstration and analysis of in vivo protein interactions in plant cells and its application to Tobacco mosaic virus movement protein

We describe a simple fluorescent protein-based method to investigate interactions with a viral movement protein in living cells that relies on the in vivo re-localization of proteins in the presence of their interaction partners. We apply this method in combination with fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) to demonstrate that a domain of the Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) movement protein (MP) previously predicted to mediate protein:protein interactions is dispensable for these contacts. We suggest that this method can be generalized for analysis of other protein interactions in planta.