Structures of Important Plant Viruses Determined; Findings May Lead to New Ways to Protect Crops and Make Other Useful Products.

Byline: Brookhaven National Laboratory

UPTON, N.Y., Oct. 1 (AScribe Newswire) -- Flexible filamentous viruses make up a large fraction of known plant viruses and are responsible for more than half the viral damage to crop plants throughout the world. New details of their structures, which were poorly understood, have been revealed by scientists using a variety of sophisticated imaging techniques at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and collaborating institutions.

These findings, just published in the October 1, 2008, issue of the Journal of Virology, may lead to new ways to protect crop plants from viruses and other forms of damage. The structural information may also benefit scientists interested in using viruses as agents of biotechnology to coax plants to produce other useful products, such as pharmaceuticals.

"These are very important viruses, and we knew almost nothing about their detailed structure …