Scientists at the Plant Protection Institute of the HUN-REN Centre for Agricultural Research (HUN-REN CAR) have characterized a novel aspect of biochemical processes governing plant virus resistance. They have demonstrated that enhanced resistance of a tobacco hybrid (Nicotiana edwardsonii 'Columbia') to Tobacco mosaic virus requires not only a plant hormone, salicylic acid, but, following virus infection, the accumulation of a small antioxidant molecule, glutathione, also contributes to this antiviral response. The results were published recently in the prestigious scientific journal Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions.
It was further shown that the enhanced resistance of N. edwardsonii 'Columbia' plants is effective against bacterial infections and herbicide stress. These research results were achieved in the framework of international cooperation with the University of Szeged, Hungary, and a US and Egyptian research group.
Source: hun-ren.hu