International Team Works to Confer Virus Resistance to the Most Important Brassica Vegetable

An international team of scientists from the University of Warwick, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and Syngenta Seeds has described a mechanism that confers resistance in brassica plants to Turnip mosaic virus. This discovery is hoped to lead to introduction of durable resistance into food crops, including the most important brassica crop worldwide Brassica rapa.

Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) can infect all kinds of plants, and cause significant damage and losses to crops. In their paper presented in The Plant Journal, the researchers have unravelled the mechanism behind a broad-spectrum, recessive and potentially durable resistance to the virus. The resistance, which arises from a gene called eIF4E, has been shown to be effective against different strains of TuMV from across the world.

John Walsh, lead investigator from the University of Warwick, said "The nature and mechanism of the resistance suggests that unlike many forms of plant resistance to disease, this particular resistance has the potential to be durable."

For more information about this research, read the news release available at: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/the_most_important/.