MINI REVIEW article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Pathogen Interactions
This article is part of the Research TopicMechanisms of Resistance and Host Responses to RNA Virus InfectionsView all 7 articles
Dancing with the Enemy: Symbiotic Relationships Between plant RNA Viruses and Their Hosts
Provisionally accepted
- 1Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (CSIR), Pālampur, India
- 2Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research, Ghaziabad, India
- 3Mikrobiologicky ustav Akademie ved Ceske republiky, Prague, Czechia
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While many plant viruses cause diseases that reduce crop yield, quality, and overall plant health, not all viruses are purely detrimental. Under certain conditions, some can confer beneficial effects, including improving abiotic stress tolerance, enhancing immunity, or even increasing pollination efficiency. RNA viruses, though most often associated with disease, can also establish symbiotic relationships with their hosts that are mutualistic, commensal, or conditionally beneficial depending on environmental factors. This mini-review summarizes how mild viral infections can protect plants against more severe pathogens (cross-protection), induce signaling and epigenetic changes that enhance stress tolerance, and serve as tools for gene delivery and crop improvement. Collectively, these findings underscore the potential of RNA viruses to support plant adaptation and survival, offering innovative possibilities for sustainable agriculture and climate resilience.
Keywords: RNA Viruses, Symbiotic relationship, Immunity, plant adaptation, Agriculture
Received: 01 Oct 2025; Accepted: 10 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Roy, Bhattacharjee and Hallan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Bipasha Bhattacharjee, bipashabhattacharjee92@gmail.com
Vipin Hallan, hallan@ihbt.res.in
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.