Plasmodesmata: gatekeepers for cell-to-cell viral spread in plants

Viruses cause epidemics on all major crops of agronomic importance, representing a serious threat to agriculture and global food security.

Among plant viruses, those induced by RNA are of particular concern due to their overrepresentation and the lack of effective countermeasures.

As obligate intracellular parasites, their control still relies on an excessive application of pesticides against virus vectors and preventive actions consisting mainly in the detection and removal of infected plants.

Virus‐resistant crop varieties are a powerful alternative but often confined to narrow germplasm base and takes long periods to introgress the resistance trait.

One of the most effective and sustainable ways to avoid virus infection is to use genome editing to expand genetic tools.

Therefore, plant virologists are turning their interests toward host factors that play essential roles in infection as novel antiviral targets. Cell-to-cell movement is critical for virus spread, and thus an ideal point for creating resistance.

Plant viruses can exploit plasmodesmata (PD) -channels that interconnect every single plant cell- using encoded so-called movement proteins (MPs) which mediate the transport of the viral genomes cell-to-cell.

Understanding the intercellular transport of viruses and the components involved offer breeding targets for genome editing to control virus spread and, thus block viral infection.

Therefore, we propose here to identity comprehensively the compendium of MP-interacting proteins using high-end proteomics.

Additionally, we will apply the state-of-the-art technology genome editing and advanced microscopy to define the role of MP-interacting proteins during virus transport and infection, laying the basis for novel biotech solutions in agriculture.