The battle for survival between viruses and their host plants

- Plants use RNA silencing as an antiviral defense mechanism.
- NLRs proteins are molecular switches activated by the viral effectors.
- Activation of NLRs-mediated resistance leads to broad-spectrum resistance.
- Cell death and pathogen arrest are separate disease resistance responses in plants.
- Vat-mediated resistance blocks aphid infestation and virus transmission.

Evolution has equipped plants with defense mechanisms to counterattack virus infections. However, some viruses have acquired the capacity to escape these defense barriers. In their combats, plants use mechanisms such as antiviral RNA silencing that viruses fight against using silencing-repressors. Plants could also resist by mutating a host factor required by the virus to complete a particular step of its infectious cycle. Another successful mechanism of resistance is the hypersensitive response, where plants engineer R genes that recognize specifically their assailants. The recognition is followed by the triggering of a broad spectrum resistance. New understanding of such resistance mechanisms will probably helps to propose new means to enhance plant resistance against viruses.