Research about plant viruses could lead to new ways to improve
crop yieldsOctober 1st, 2008 in Biology / (PhysOrg.com) -- An
interdisciplinary group of scientists has obtained the first
detailed information about the structure of the most destructive
group of plant viruses known: flexible filamentous viruses. The
cost of worldwide crop losses due to plant diseases is estimated
at $60 billion annually. Although there are no good estimates of
the cost of plant viruses alone, the viruses are generally
considered to be the second greatest contributor to those losses
(after fungi). The 300-plus species of flexible filamentous
viruses are responsible for more than half of all virus damage.
The findings are published in the October 1 issue of the Journal
of Virology and could lead to new ways to protect crop plants
from these viruses. The structural information that the
researchers have obtained may also benefit researchers
interested in using viruses as agents of biotechnology to coax
plants to produce other useful