ISHS Acta Horticulturae 432: IX International Symposium on Virus Diseases of Ornamental Plants
PLANT VIROLOGY: RECENT PROGRESS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS |
| Author: | Bryan D. Harrison |
| Abstract:
Recent years have seen improved control of some plant virus diseases but increased prevalence of others, fuelled in part by international movement of plant material carrying non-indigenous vectors, and increased resistance of vectors to pesticides. In contrast, the science of plant virology has advanced rapidly with the aid of user-friendly molecular biological procedures, reverse genetics and modern approaches to cell biology. Research on geminiviruses, for example, one focus of attention, has revealed many features of their replication, intercellular spread, effects on host processes, and relationships. Highlights of work with other viruses include identification of the protein domains involved in non-circulative and in circulative non-propagative virus transmission by vectors, and delineation of epistatic RNA domains determining biological properties of virus satellites. Knowledge about the diverse mechanisms of cell-to-cell movement of RNA viruses has grown greatly, viral avirulence genes have been characterised and the first molecular analysis made of the product of a plant gene conferring virus resistance. A type of transgenic virus resistance that is associated with homology-dependent gene silencing has been described. Plant virology promises to continue to develop strongly, to provide materials with biotechnological uses and to cast light on biological phenomena more generally. | |
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