antiviral-immunity
Antiviral immunity in plants refers to the molecular defense mechanisms plants use to detect, resist, and suppress viral infections, including RNA silencing pathways and innate immune responses. Understanding these mechanisms is critical for plant science because viral diseases cause significant crop losses worldwide, and insights into plant antiviral immunity can inform the development of virus-resistant varieties and sustainable agricultural strategies.
open_in_new WikipediaPubMed · 2026-04-29
Scientists discovered that a stress protein called COR15, found in citrus and tobacco plants, boosts the plant's natural antiviral immune system by protecting a key defense component from viral attack. This protein helps plants resist citrus tristeza virus and potentially a broad range of other viral infections.
COR15 directly interacts with and neutralizes the citrus tristeza virus protein p20, which normally shuts down the plant's RNA-based immune defense
COR15 protects the defense protein SGS3 from viral degradation and promotes formation of antiviral processing hubs inside plant cells, enhancing production of virus-fighting molecules
CRISPR/Cas9 knockout of COR15 in plants reduced the number and size of antiviral processing hubs and impaired the plant's ability to produce virus-silencing molecules, confirming COR15's essential role
