Effects of a changing environment on the defenses of plants to viruses

Abstract

Since their appearance, plants have lived and evolved within changing environments that were determined by a host of abiotic and biotic factors. It is in this evolutionary context that both, the mechanisms of defense by plants against viruses and the viral reprogramming of plant routes were established, which combined define the outcomes of compatible infections. Current alterations in the chemistry of the atmosphere are causing changes in the global context in which plants and viruses interact that are unprecedented not in their nature but in their pace. We discuss here the potential reach of environment changes taking place now, and how the main abiotic parameters that are driving them can affect defense responses of plants to viruses in compatible infections.