Unlike animals, plants do not possess an adaptive immune system with antibodies or T cells to fight viral infections. Instead, they rely on the RNA silencing system, which serves as their innate immune defense by recognizing and degrading viral RNA. In turn, viruses have evolved viral suppressors to inhibit the RNA silencing pathway, thus facilitating the successful infection of the host plant. Unlike animals, plants do not possess an adaptive immune system with antibodies or T cells to fight viral infections. Instead, they rely on the RNA silencing system, which serves as their innate immune defense by recognizing and degrading viral RNA. In turn, viruses have evolved viral suppressors to inhibit the RNA silencing pathway, thus facilitating the successful infection of the host plant. Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Phys.org – latest science and technology news stories
The battle between resilient plants and cunning viruses: Study discovers a novel RNA silencing mechanism
