Plant Cuttings

This is the third (of three) posts that make the connection between phytoplankton free-floating in the ocean [see the first post] to earth-bound rice plants [this  post]. As a reminder, we arrived at this post after looking at viruses in red-tides in the Gulf of Mexico* [see the second post].

Model of the activation mechanism of antiviral immune response mediated by RBRL from the featured paper by Yu Huang et al. (2025).

As anybody who has survived the past few years will know only too well, humans suffer from virus diseases, such as the agent that caused the Covid-19 pandemic. Humanity’s domestic and domesticated animals (ME Reichmann) are also subject to outbreaks of various viruses as well – e.g.. bird flu in chickens, rabies in dogs, and myxomatosis in rabbits. Maybe less well-known is the fact that plants are also prone to attack by viruses (Karen-Beth Scholthof et al., 2011), and their names tend to be more eccentric or descriptive than animal viruses’, e.g., potato virus X, potato virus Y, and banana bunchy top virus**.

As with animals, virus infection of plants can significantly reduce their performance (growth and development) and yield (Hernan Garcia-Ruiz, 2019; Kate Creasey Krainer & Matthew Venezia; Satyanarayana Tatineni & Gary Hein, 2023). Understandably, this is of great concern for crop plants, and to the people who rely on them for their daily portion of life-sustaining calories. One of the most important crop plants in that regard is rice (Oryza sativa), which is widely reported as being the main staple [“a food that is eaten often and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for an individual or a population group”] for up to one-half of the world’s population (or even “more than half”).

Virus infection – or any infection such as bacterial (John Mansfield et al., 2012) or fungal (Ralph Dean et al., 2012; Demetrio Marcianò et al., 2021) (and fungal-like oomycetes (Sophien Kamoun et al., 2015)) – of this major cereal – is something to be avoided at all costs. But, if it can’t be avoided, it’s good to know that the plant is not defenceless in the face of this sort of attack, as shown by Yu Huang et al. (2025).

In the admirably succinct summary from Technology Networks, what Huang et al. (2025) have uncovered is “a molecular mechanism by which rice cells perceive viral infections and initiate antiviral response, which significantly contributes to understanding of virus-host interactions for further disease resistance breeding”. For more on this story – which memorably includes an “adaptor protein of the transcriptional repression complex of the jasmonate pathway, NOVEL INTERACTOR OF JAZ 3 (NINJA3)” (Huang et al., 2025) – see here, here, here, and here.

In the words provided by Peking University, and reported by Technology Networks, Huang et al. (2025)’s research “represents a milestone in plant virology and crop science, bringing researchers closer to developing a multi-target strategy for antiviral breeding of crops”. Whilst we should recognise that viruses are not the only disease-causing agents that attack rice*** (or other crops), getting a handle on the virus threat is an important step towards better protecting the health of this crucially-important crop plant, and safeguarding future food supply and security for a hungry human population**** of this planet.

So, there you have it, that’s how one gets from paradoxical phytoplankton to virus-resisting rice plants [this post], via red-tides. Connections between seemingly unrelated plant-based stories – ocean-dwelling microscopic algae and a soil-rooted flowering plant – can always be found – if you look hard enough.

* It is appropriate here to alert readers to a possible name change for this globally-recognised geographical feature because US President Donald Trump has decreed by executive order that the body of water known for many years as the Gulf of Mexico is to be renamed the Gulf of America (Jesse Mendoza).

Mr P Cuttings is not subject to that American presidential diktat/edict/decree or pronouncement, and will continue to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of Mexico.

**. Perhaps the most ‘colourful’ of all is the virus that leads to so-called ‘colour break’ (Judith Lesnaw & Said Ghabrial, 2000; Sarah Wilmot) in flowers of tulips and which played its part in the Netherlands’ ‘tulip mania’ (Adam Hayes; Teddy Kuser) of the 17^th century (Peter Garber, 1989, 1990; Earl Thompson, 2007; Sarah Raven; Plato Basumatary et al., 2023).

*** Rice is also subject to the unwanted attentions of both fungi (e.g., rice blast), and bacteria (e.g., rice bacterial blight (Hugo Yen).

**** Estimates of which number – widely-reported as being, currently, approx. 8.2 billion – may be a significant underestimate [more on this story here, and in the articles by David Nield, Darren Orf, Vishwam Sankaran, and Chris Stokel-Walker. And in the original research item by Josias Láng-Ritter et al. (2025).

REFERENCES

Plato Basumatary et al., 2023. A virus that caused the first financial bubble: “Tulipmania”. Ecology Environment and Conservation 29: S224-S226; http://dx.doi.org/10.53550/EEC.2023.v29i03s.042

Ralph Dean et al., 2012. The top 10 fungal pathogens in molecular plant pathology. Molecular Plant Pathology 13: 414-430; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1364-3703.2011.00783.x

Peter M Garber, 1989. Tulipmania. Journal of Political Economy 97(3): 535-560; https://www.jstor.org/stable/1830454

Peter M Garber, 1990. Famous first bubbles. The Journal of Economic Perspectives 4(2): 35-54; https://www.jstor.org/stable/1942889

Hernan Garcia-Ruiz H, 2019. When viruses infect plants. Scientia (Bristol) Jan 22;2019(123): 40-43.

Yu Huang et al., 2025. Perception of viral infections and initiation of antiviral defence in rice. Nature (2005); https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08706-8

Sophien Kamoun et al., 2015. Top 10 oomycete plant pathogens. Molecular Plant Pathology 16: 413-434; https://doi.org/10.1111/mpp.12190

Josias Láng-Ritter et al., 2025. Global gridded population datasets systematically underrepresent rural population. Nat Commun 16: 2170; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56906-7

Judith A Lesnaw & Said A Ghabrial, 2000. Tulip breaking: Past, present, and future. Plant Disease 84(1): 1052-1060; doi: 10.1094/PDIS.2000.84.10.1052

John Mansfield et al., 2012. Top 10 plant pathogenic bacteria in molecular plant pathology. Molecular Plant Pathology 13: 614-629; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1364-3703.2012.00804.x

Demetrio Marcianò et al., 2021. The dark side of fungi: How they cause diseases in plants. Front. Young Minds 9: 560315; doi: 10.3389/frym.2021.560315

Karen-Beth G Scholthof et al., 2011. Top 10 plant viruses in molecular plant pathology. Molecular Plant Pathology 12: 938-954; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1364-3703.2011.00752.x

Satyanarayana Tatineni & Gary L Hein, 2023. Plant viruses of agricultural importance: Current and future perspectives of virus disease management strategies. Phytopathology® 113: 117-141; https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-05-22-0167-RVW

Earl A Thompson, 2007. The tulipmania: Fact or artifact? Public Choice 130(1/2): 99-114; doi: 10.1007/sl 1127-006-9074-4