Resistant+to+Maize+Streak+Virus

Resistant to Maize Streak Virus 2009

In Africa there is a disease called the Maize Streak Virus. MSV is transmitted to maize by small insects called leaf hoppers. The disease is a result of a complex interplay between the plant and the virus and the insect. There are a couple things that can influence the severity of the disease like the younger the plant the more severe the infection.

Now they have created an MSV resistant maize variety by genetic engineering by using pathogen-derived resistance. This would mean that a gene from the viral pathogen is used to protect the plant from that pathogen. They also mutated a viral gene that produces a protein that is essential for the virus to replicate itself and inserted into the maize plant genome. When the virus infects one of the transgenic maize plants it displays a significant delay in the symptoms.