Maize Streak Virus Strain in Africa
August 22, 2008| |
Corn, the most important food crop in Africa has been recently damaged by a much more virulent strain of maize streak virus (MSV), said a report published in the Journal of General Virology. Through a thorough study of the many different strains of the virus in Africa, a team of researchers from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, led by Darren Martin revealed that this new strain is a recombination product of two relatively harmless wild grass infecting viruses. The new strain can now adapt to extreme conditions including cold winters and can infect many different host species.
“Given the fragility of African agriculture and perpetual famine risks with millions of lives at stake, MSV is actually one of the most important plant pathogens worldwide,” said Martin. “We wanted to learn more about how the virus emerged and spread so we can develop new ways to fight the diseases it causes.” The group is now currently testing various resistance strategies like stacking resistance genes and targeting different virus components that can be simultaneously exchanged by recombination.
For details see press release at: http://www.sgm.ac.uk/news/releases/JGV.0908.DM.1.cfm
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