Effects of introduced and indigenous viruses on native plants: exploring their disease causing potential at the agro-ecological interface.

ABSTRACT: The ever increasing movement of viruses around the world poses a major threat to plants growing in cultivated and natural ecosystems. Both generalist and specialist viruses move via trade in plants and plant products. Their potential to damage cultivated plants is well understood, but little attention has been given to the threat such viruses pose to plant biodiversity. To address this, we studied their impact, and that of indigenous viruses, on native plants from a global biodiversity hot spot in an isolated region where agriculture is very recent (<185 years), making it possible to distinguish between introduced and indigenous viruses readily. To establish their potential to cause severe or mild systemic symptoms in different native plant species, we used introduced generalist and specia

SUBMITTER: Vincent SJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3951315 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature