Donald Danforth Plant Science, St. Louis, MO, U.S.A.
Abstracts of the papers presented at the International Conference of Indian Virological Society on “Emerging and Re-emerging viral Diseases of the Tropics and Subtropics” at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India, December 11–14, 2007.
Plant viruses are found in most or all food crops, as well as weedy plants, around the world. However, the impacts of virus infection on crop productivity vary dramatically, and severe diseases are more common in tropical regions than in temperate regions due in large part to the abundance of insects and other vectors of viruses, throughout the multiple growing seasons. Through the efforts of virologists around the world we are now more aware than ever before of the diversity of viruses and virus strains in crops. However, since many diseases result as a consequence of co-infection by several viruses, it is often difficult to identify the causal agent(s) of disease and thus to identify genes for disease resistance. During the past 20 years a number of successful strategies for controlling virus infection and disease through plant genetic engineering have been identified, and several varieties of transgenic, virus resistant crops have been commercialized, and many others are being tested in field trials. Successful strategies include genes that encode: coat protein; small interfering RNAs (RNAi) derived from virus sequences; DNA and RNA binding proteins; translation initiation factors; synthetic zinc finger proteins that bind DNA; and others. Each of the transgenic strategies represents new challenges for the regulatory agencies that will assess potential benefits and potential risks of the resistance genes for consumers and the environment. This presentation will discuss several of the strategies and their potential to significantly impact crop production tropical countries.
