Controlling Geminiviruses before Transmission: Prospects
Muhammad Salman Mubarik,
Sultan Habibullah Khan,
Aftab Ahmad,
Ali Raza,
Zulqurnain Khan,
Muhammad Sajjad,
Reda Helmy Ahmed Sammour,
Abd El-Zaher M.A. Mustafa,
Abdullah Ahmed Al-Ghamdi,
Amal H. Alajmi,
Fatin K. I. Alshamasi,
Mohamed Soliman Elshikh
Affiliations
Muhammad Salman Mubarik
Centre for Agricultural Biochemistry and Biotechnology (CABB), University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
Sultan Habibullah Khan
Centre for Agricultural Biochemistry and Biotechnology (CABB), University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
Aftab Ahmad
Center of Advanced Studies in Agriculture and Food Security (CAS-AFS), University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
Ali Raza
Key Lab of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Oil Crops, Oil Crops Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Wuhan 430062, China
Zulqurnain Khan
Institute of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology (IPBB), MNS University of Agriculture, Multan 66000, Pakistan
Muhammad Sajjad
Department of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Park Road, Islamabad 45550, Pakistan
Reda Helmy Ahmed Sammour
Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 22452, Riyadh 11495, Saudi Arabia
Abd El-Zaher M.A. Mustafa
Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 22452, Riyadh 11495, Saudi Arabia
Abdullah Ahmed Al-Ghamdi
Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 22452, Riyadh 11495, Saudi Arabia
Amal H. Alajmi
Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 22452, Riyadh 11495, Saudi Arabia
Fatin K. I. Alshamasi
Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 22452, Riyadh 11495, Saudi Arabia
Mohamed Soliman Elshikh
Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 22452, Riyadh 11495, Saudi Arabia
Whitefly (Bemisia tabaci)-transmitted Geminiviruses cause serious diseases of crop plants in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Plants, animals, and their microbial symbionts have evolved complex ways to interact with each other that impact their life cycles. Blocking virus transmission by altering the biology of vector species, such as the whitefly, can be a potential approach to manage these devastating diseases. Virus transmission by insect vectors to plant hosts often involves bacterial endosymbionts. Molecular chaperonins of bacterial endosymbionts bind with virus particles and have a key role in the transmission of Geminiviruses. Hence, devising new approaches to obstruct virus transmission by manipulating bacterial endosymbionts before infection opens new avenues for viral disease control. The exploitation of bacterial endosymbiont within the insect vector would disrupt interactions among viruses, insects, and their bacterial endosymbionts. The study of this cooperating web could potentially decrease virus transmission and possibly represent an effective solution to control viral diseases in crop plants.
