Phytopathology

The viruses of genus  Ilarvirus are of agronomic importance causing worldwide economic losses in yield and fruit quality affecting mainly Prunus spp. Ilarvirus genus is a member of the family of the Bromoviridae.

Gibberella xylarioides Heim and Saccas (presumed anamorph, Fusarium xylarioides Steyaert)  causes diseases in coffee, cotton plantain and tomato. Countries most affected are Zimbabwe, Republic of Congo (Zaire) and Ethiopia. [1]

The bacterial canker on kiwifruit caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae is a severe threat to production of green-fleshed kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) and yellow-fleshed kiwifruit (A. chinensis). Renzi et al. 2012 describe the kiwi disease spreading in Italy. [1]

The Asian longhorned beetle (ALB), Anoplophora glabripennis, and citrus longhorned beetle (CLB), Anoplophora chinensis are  native to Asia. Both are found in Europe, but only the Asian longhorned beetle has spread in USA. Outbreaks began in China in the 1980s, following major reforestation programs that used ALB-susceptible tree species which are known to be Acer, Aesculus, Betula, Populus, Salix, and Ulmus genra. [1]

Plastids are organelles found in the cells of plants and algae. Plastids are responsible for photosynthesis, storage of products like starch and for the synthesis of many classes of molecules such as fatty acids and terpenes which are needed as cellular building blocks and/or for the function of the plant.
Plastids may differentiate into several forms:

Plants produce defence compounds as a protection against pests. Glucosinolates are such compounds which are toxic not only to pests, but also to animals and humans. According to Halkier et al. 2012, defence compounds are translocated to seeds using  two members of the nitrate/peptide transporter family, GTR1 and GTR2, as glucosinolate-specific transporters in Arabidopsis. [1]

Biotrophic phytopathogens colonize living plant tissue and obtain nutrients from living host cells. Necrotrophic fungal pathogens infect and kill host tissue and extract nutrients from the dead host cells.

The full genome sequence of the tomato, Solanum lycopersicum, has been decoded and is published in May 2012 in the Journal Nature. Researchers aim to improve yield, nutrition, disease resistance, taste and colour of the tomato and other crops. The "Heinz 1706" tomato variety was used for the  sequencing performed by the Tomato Genomics Consortium, an international collaboration between 14 countries. [1]

Nanoparticles are a class of newly emerging environmental pollutions. Plants must react to environmental stresses with strategies such as altering gene expression induced by microRNAs (miRNA). [1]

microRNAs are an endogenous class of gene regulators which alter gene expression by either targeting mRNAs for degradation or inhibiting mRNAs  Abiotic stress responses such as drought and salinity in plants are being mediated by miRNAs

Tang 2010 defines MicroRNAs (miRNAs) as 21-23 nucleotide (nt) non-coding RNAs that play a key role in regulating the expression of protein-coding genes at post-transcriptional levels in plants and animals. They are located in the intergenic regions of the plant genome. [1]

Tang stresses the importance of co-evolution of the miRNA genes and their target genes which enables the functioning of the  gene regulatory network governed by miRNAs in plants.