A vaccine against crop failure
Current phytosanitary methods provide only partial protection against persistent pathogens. The victims are farmers and the entire world population. But a new method should make it possible to vaccinate plants against viruses.
Vaccines for humans have been around for a long time and are a good thing, at least for the majority. For example, polio has been almost completely eradicated. Until now, however, plants have been sprayed with toxic chemicals or genetically modified to make them resistant to disease. Apart from health and ethical concerns, these methods are not really effective, as viruses develop rapidly. The result is poor harvests, posing a threat to global food security.
But scientists have just found a way to vaccinate plants quickly and easily, using their own antigens, just as they do in humans. When plants are attacked by a virus, the cell often releases ribonucleic acid (RNA), which encourages the virus to replicate and spread. The plant cell's defensive proteins recognise these viral RNAs, which the enzymes cut like little scissors. These remaining pieces are called small interfering RNAs (pRNAi). These associate with proteins and then destroy the virus.
90% protection
The problem? The method isn't always effective, because only a few pRNAi have the right properties to fight the virus. And that's exactly where scientists at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg come in, having developed tests to determine the effectiveness of pRNAi subsequently used as vaccines. The method was tested on tobacco plants infected with the tomato bushy stunt virus. The results were convincing: 90% of the plants were protected. And all that was needed was to spray the plants with pRNAi or rub the leaves with it.
Scientists are currently working on a simpler and more cost-effective method of administering the vaccine to plants. If the technology proves successful, then it will be easier for farmers to keep pace with ever-changing pathogens. Vaccination is easier and faster than genetic modification of plants.
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