RNA silencing is an adaptive, inducible antiviral defence mechanism in the host against invading viruses. The adaptive antiviral function is characterized by the formation of virus-derived small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) during viral infection. As a counter defense strategy, a number of plant viruses evolve viral suppressors to target antiviral silencing.

Existing theory, empirical, clinical and field research all predict that reducing the virulence of individuals within a pathogen population will reduce the overall virulence, rendering disease less severe. Here, we show that this seemingly successful disease management strategy can fail with devastating consequences for infected hosts. We deploy cooperation theory and a novel synthetic system involving the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. In vivo infections of rice demonstrate that M.

The present study was conducted in 2009–10 with the objective to monitor the effect of restorative soil management practices on biological soil quality. The experiment was initiated in 1995 in a strip–split–split plot design with three replications. Sorghum and castor were grown in two-year rotations.

Original Source

Sustainably feeding the world’s growing population is a challenge, and closing yield gaps (that is, differences between farmers’ yields and what are attainable for a given region) is a vital strategy to address this challenge. The magnitude of yield gaps is particularly large in developing countries where smallholder farming dominates the agricultural landscape. Many factors and constraints interact to limit yields, and progress in problem-solving to bring about changes at the ground level is rare.