Viral coat protein (CP) encoding cDNA with artificial start and stop codons was synthesized by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) from the Korean isolate of potato virus Y-vein nectrosis strain (pVY-VN). To make PVY CP cDNA to untranslatable form, three stop codons were inserted near the start codon by "megaprimer-PCR" method. The untranslatable CP cDNA was subcloned to plant expression vector and transferred to N. tabacum cv. NC82 by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Highly resistant plants to PVY infection were screened, based on symptom development after mechanical virus inoculation. By genomic PCR and Southern blot analysis, one or more copies of the untranslatable CP gene were found in all transformants. From northern blot analysis, highly resistant transgenic lines had very low level of CP transcript but susceptible lines had high level, suggesting resistance to PVY infection should be related to RNA-mediated mechanism.mechanism.