Potential of ribonuclease-sinthesizing plant growth promoting rhizobacteria in plant defence against viruses

Abstract

Viruses cause epiphytotics on all major cultures of agronomic importance, representing a serious danger to global food security. As strictly intracellular pathogens, they cannot be controlled chemically and prophylactic measures consist mainly in the destruction of infected plants and excessive pesticide applications to limit the population of vector organisms. An alternative antiviral strategy is associated with the use of microbial enzymes, which are less toxic and are readily decomposed without accumulation of harmful substances. Plant-growth promoting microorganisms (PGPR), especially endophytic strains, or their communities can promote plant defence against viral diseases via producing ribonucleases, which are capable of degrading viral RNA.