RNA silencing is a homology-dependent gene inactivation mechanism that regulates a wide
range of biological processes including antiviral defense. To deal with host antiviral …

Potyvirus is the largest genus of plant viruses causing significant losses in a wide range of
crops. Potyviruses are aphid transmitted in a nonpersistent manner and some of them are …

Hormones are tuners of plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. They are involved in
various complicated networks, through which they modulate responses to different stimuli …

Viruses cause epidemics on all major cultures of agronomic importance, representing a
serious threat to global food security. As strict intracellular pathogens, they cannot be …

A multitude of small RNAs (sRNAs, 18–25 nt in length) accumulate in plant tissues. Although
heterogeneous in size, sequence, genomic distribution, biogenesis, and action, most of …

Background Crops are constantly attacked by various pathogens. These pathogenic
microorganisms, such as fungi, oomycetes, bacteria, viruses, and nematodes, threaten …

Background Among the environmental limitations that affect plant growth, viruses cause
major crop losses worldwide and represent serious threats to food security. Significant …

RNA viruses have very compact genomes and so provide a unique opportunity to study how
evolution works to optimize the use of very limited genomic information. A widespread viral …

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria have been proposed as effective biocontrol agents
against several fungal and bacterial plant pathogens. However, there is limited knowledge …

Phloem transport of plant viruses is an essential step in the setting-up of a complete infection
of a host plant. After an initial replication step in the first cells, viruses spread from cell-to-cell …