US: Researchers analyse ways to help plants defend themselves against deadly virus spread

According to new research led by the scientists of Washington State University, it said the viral proteins interact with each other to help a virus hijack its host plant and complete its life cycle. The research published in Frontiers in Plant Science shows when some of these viral proteins were disabled, they found that the virus could not move from cell to cell. According to researchers, this ultimately prevents crop losses.

"These silencing suppressor proteins are interacting with each other in a seamless, highly coordinated lockstep dance to help the virus in overcoming the host defence. Insights into the dynamics of these interactions could provide clues for blocking them," WSU virologist Hanu Pappu, the senior author, said in a statement released on January 25.

These viruses incur loss of billions of dollars annually

"We are using genome editing approaches to do exactly that. The more we understand about how these viruses bring down defensive ‘shields’ and cause disease, the better chance we have of saving plants from viral invaders," added the author.

Citing the reports of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the researchers noted that these viruses maintain silent mode and work behind-the-scenes to destroy the crops. They said that these viruses are destroying the crops for more than a million years, resulting in the loss of billions of dollars annually.

Further, explaining the mechanism, the author said that the plants have developed a sophisticated defence system to protect themselves from infection, involving highly choreographed cellular events that are triggered by the viral attack.

WSU virologist Hanu Pappu noted that plants use a molecular defence called RNA interference (RNAi) that chops incoming viral nucleic acid, preventing the virus from commandeering host cells.

"Star Trek’s Federation-versus-Klingons is playing out in real life. When the plant senses an attack by a virus, its ‘shields’ go up. Viruses are finding ways to lower the shields or slip through them and eventually take over the plant," said the WSU virologist.

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