Progress in the development and application of plant-based antiviral agents

Plant virus disease is one of the major causes of biological disasters in agriculture worldwide. Given the complexity of transmission media and plant disease infection mechanisms, the prevention and control of plant viral diseases is a great challenge, and an efficient green pesticide is urgently needed. For this reason, when developing candidate drug leads to regulate plant viruses, pesticide experts have focused on characteristics such as low pesticide resistance, eco-friendliness, and novel mechanism. Researchers have also theoretically investigated the molecular targets of viruses infecting agricultural crops. Antiviral screening models have been constructed based on these molecular targets, and the mechanisms of commercial drugs and high-activity compounds have been extensively investigated. After screening, some compounds have been applied in the field and found to have good commercial prospects; these drugs may be used to create new green antiviral pesticides to control plant viruses. This paper reviews the screening, mode of action, development and application of recently used plant-based antiviral agents.