Viral Diseases in Plants
Viruses are small pathogenic particles that infect living organisms, thus causing viral diseases. They disrupt normal cell processes by infiltrating intracellularly and forcing the host’s cells to create more viruses through replication, which means they require a host to survive and multiply. To infiltrate cells, they use wounds in plant tissue as initial entrance, and these can be natural but also inflicted by handling the plant roughly in agricultural practices, other pathogen-cause damage, or feeding damage by insects. Thus, other organisms might also carry the virus and infect the plants upon interaction. Insects are one of the most important and meaningful transmitters of viruses, especially those with sucking mouthparts. Propagation, especially by cuttings, is also a common gateway for viral diseases. Some well-known viruses are TMV, PVY in potatoes, and CMV in cucumbers. It is important to note that some plants might be infected but show no signs, which is known as a latent infection.
