Study shows that viruses can evolve to benefit the host organism

A research group from the Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio) confirms that a virus that affects a cruciferous plant reduces its virulence in drought conditions.This is the first piece of research showing ...

A first step to plant made dengue virus vaccines

Researchers have used plants to produce virus-like particles (VLPs) of the dengue virus in a potential first step towards novel vaccines against the growing threat.

Chemical compounds in foods can inhibit a key SARS-CoV-2 enzyme

Chemical compounds in foods or beverages like green tea, muscadine grapes and dark chocolate can bind to and block the function of a particular enzyme, or protease, in the SARS-CoV-2 virus, according to a new study by plant ...

Host genetic factors shape composition of virus communities

Plants can be infected by multiple viruses at once. However, the composition of the pathogen community varies, even if individuals belong to the same species and the same population. Ecologists at the University of Zurich ...

Mystery solved: How do tips of plants stay virus-free?

Plants are able to keep growing indefinitely because they have tissues made of meristems—plant stem cells—which have the unique ability to transform themselves into the various specialized cells that make up the plant, ...

Virus turns deadly fungus from foe to friend in plants

Researchers have discovered that a fungal virus (also called a mycovirus) can convert deadly fungal pathogens into beneficial fungus in rapeseed plants. Once transformed, the fungus boosts the plant's immune system, making ...

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