How The Tobacco Mosaic Virus Impacts The Growth Of Plants?

Tobacco mosaic is a viral disease that affects over 200 herbaceous and woody plants, including tobacco and solanaceous vegetables. The virus can multiply only inside living cells but can survive in a dormant state in dead tissue, retaining its ability to infect growing plants for years after the infected person. Heat-killed tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) can increase abiotic stress tolerance in plants, potentially causing the disease.

The disease causes a mosaic pattern of brown pots on the surface of leaves, which is not usually caused by TMV. TMV is a well-studied plant virus belonging to the single-stranded RNA virus family togaviridae 4 and can infect 268 species. It can cause plants to produce less chlorophyll, leading to leaf discoloration and stunted growth. This reduction in chlorophyll content means that less photosynthesis is reduced. TMV particles are very stable and, when cells are broken or leaves dry up, they are released to infect new plants.

TMV-infection symptoms in plants, such as yellowing veins and malformed leaves, have a negative effect on growth and biomass. Early infection causes stunted plant growth with small, chlorotic, mottled, and malformed leaves. Infection of tobacco plants with TMV leads to an increase in homologous recombination frequency (HRF), leading to various degrees of stunting, necrosis on stems, leaves, fruits, mosaic symptoms on leaves, deformations, defoliation of leaves, and more.

The disease has its biggest impact on vegetables, where it can reduce yield and affect quality to the point that commercial crops cannot be grown. Infected leaves may be crinkled, puckered, or elongated, but if TMV infects crops like grape and apple, it is almost symptomless.

How does tobacco mosaic virus stop photosynthesis?

Pathogens infect plant leaves, resulting in alterations to their pigmentation and the formation of a mosaic pattern. Additionally, pathogens can induce leaf curling or curling up, which impedes photosynthesis. There are four principal categories of pathogens, each with a relatively straightforward life cycle: infection, reproduction, dissemination, and infection of other organisms. Pathogens that cause disease are referred to as communicable agents, as they can be transmitted from one organism to another.

How does TMV affect the chloroplast?

A series of CP deletion mutants of TMV and ToMV spontaneous mutant ToMV-L11Y cause severe chlorosis, causing deformation and disruption of chloroplasts. The mutant CPs contribute to this severe chlorosis. This research topic focuses on plant immunity against viruses and is part of the Research Topic Plant immunity against viruses. The study was conducted by MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Center for Plant Biology, Tsinghua-Peking Joint Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, State Key Laboratory Breeding Base for Sustainable Control of Pest and Disease, Key Laboratory of Biotechnology in Plant Protection, and Research Centre for Plant RNA Signaling.

What does mosaic virus do to plants?

Mosaic symptoms in plants include irregular leaf mottling, stunted leaves, curled veins, dwarfed plants, deformed fruit and flowers, and sometimes confusion with nutrient deficiency or herbicide injury. These symptoms can be masked or latent, especially at temperatures above 27°C. The causal viruses are spread by aphids, insects, mites, fungi, nematodes, and contact, as well as pollen and seeds. To avoid Mosaic, use virus-free seeds and plants, grow resistant varieties, separate new from old plantings, rotate annuals, and observe strict sanitation and pest-control measures.

What is the plant response to tobacco mosaic virus?

The study reveals that tobacco plants infected with Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) show an increase in homologous recombination frequency (HRF) and an increase in resistance gene-like loci in their progeny. The study also found that the progeny of infected plants had a significant delay in symptom development and higher levels of induction of PATHOGENESIS-RELATED GENE1 gene expression and callose deposition.

The results suggest that viral infection triggers specific changes in progeny that promote higher levels of HRF at the transgene and higher resistance to stress compared to unstressed plants. However, the data reported in these studies do not establish evidence of a link between recombination frequency and stress resistance.

Continuous exposure to stress leads to the evolutionary selection of adaptive traits beneficial in a particular environment. However, plants also possess the ability to acclimate on shorter time scales, a process used for adjusting metabolism to a new environment. Pathogens represent one of the various stresses that plants are constantly exposed to, and the evolution of plant resistance to a particular pathogen, virus, bacterium, or fungus has been the result of constant interactions with said pathogen, leading to a constant plant-pathogen arms race.

How do plants defend against tobacco mosaic virus?

Tobamovirus infection can be controlled through various antiviral defense mechanisms, including non-classic PTI, ETI, RNA-targeting pathway, phytohormones, ROS, and autophagy. Understanding these mechanisms can help control plant viral diseases. Some recessive resistance genes also play a role in this regard. Transgenic approaches, particularly enhancing RNA silencing against viral RNA sequences, have shown potential for effective plant protection against viruses.

However, due to public concerns and regulatory barriers, this approach has been restricted for field use. Genome editing, using CRISPR/Cas9 systems, can generate virus-resistant crops. Numerous host susceptibility genes, such as TOM1/3, TOM2, ARL8, and WPRb, have been identified, and their knockouts or mutants do not affect plant growth or morphology. Recently, Kunitz peptidase inhibitor-like protein (KPILP) was identified as a novel proviral factor during TMV or crTMV infection, which could be edited to achieve tobamovirus resistance in different crops.

How does tobacco mosaic virus affect growth?

TMV infects plant leaves, causing them to change color, develop mosaic patterns, and curl up. This reduction in photosynthesis leads to improper growth and reduced crop yields. Rose black spot fungus infects roses, causing black or purple spots on leaves. The rest of the leaves turn yellow and drop off the plant, further reducing the plant’s ability to photosynthesise and growth. This fungus is particularly harmful to roses, as it can lead to crop loss.

How does tobacco mosaic virus affect crop yield?

Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) symptoms vary depending on the age of the infected plant, environmental conditions, the virus strain, and the host plant’s genetic background. TMV can also infect tomato plants, causing poor yield, distorted fruits, delayed fruit ripening, and nonuniform fruit color. The symptoms are dependent on the host plant’s age, environmental conditions, the virus strain, and the host plant’s genetic background. TMV hosts include tobacco, tomato, and other solanaceous plants.

Currently, tobacco yield losses due to TMV are estimated at one due to the use of resistant varieties. However, tomato plants have reported losses of up to 20 due to TMV, and poor fruit quality may reduce the crop’s value in the commercial fresh market.

Is tobacco mosaic virus harmful to plants?

Tobacco mosaic is caused by viruses in infected plants, which can be contaminated seed or carried on hands and clothing. These plants produce edible fruit but reduce yield, size, and quality. To prevent future virus spread, plant resistant varieties should be used. Precautions include avoiding handling plants, removing diseased ones, controlling weeds, rotating crops, planting near virus-infected plants, and not smoking or handling plants near the garden.

Why is growth affected by tobacco mosaic virus?

The tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) has the potential to cause plants to lose chlorophyll, which can result in leaf discoloration and stunted growth. This is due to the fact that a decrease in chlorophyll content leads to a reduction in photosynthesis.

How does the tobacco mosaic virus affect plants?

The virus is transmitted through the phloem, the plant’s nutrient transport network, and causes a range of symptoms, including mosaic patterns on leaves, mottling, necrosis, stunting, and leaf curling. These symptoms collectively contribute to the difficulty of controlling the virus, given its propensity for easy transmission.

How does TMV reduce plant growth?

Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) is a disease that affects plants by causing discolouration of leaves, reduced pigment, and stunted growth. It is spread when healthy leaves touch TMV-infected plants. Insects, such as aphids, feed on sap within plant stems, reducing glucose availability and potentially leading to plant death. Deficiency diseases can also affect plants if they lack certain mineral ions. TMV is spread through physical contact with healthy plants.