Virus diseases are an unending bane for some aspects of agriculture: they cause extensive damage, are difficult to prevent and may be impossible to control once they have struck.

One such disease, maize streak, devastates Africa's maize crop but now help is in sight. A new genetic technique has been developed somewhat analogous to vaccination in animals: a manipulated version of the maize streak virus genome is inserted into the plant. In response the plants generate large quantities of the mutated replication protein.

Should infection take place, the mutated protein recognises the virus native replication protein and binds to it, interfering with virus replication. Further attack by the virus is thereby prevented without the use of any external agents.

This new approach was developed by a group working at the University of Cape Town. They note that this is the first genetically engineered crop developed and tested solely by Africans.

Sources:

1. GM 'vaccine' to tackle maize streak. BBC News (13.7.07) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6897376.stm)

2. Dionne N. Shepherd, Tichaona Mangwende, Darren P. Martin, Marion Bezuidenhout, Jennifer A. Thomson and Edward P. Rybicki (2007). Inhibition of maize streak virus (MSV) replication by transient and transgenic expression of MSV replication-associated protein mutants, Journal of General Virology, 88, 325-336 (http://vir.sgmjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/88/1/325)

<<<back