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Agronomy
Special Issues
Crop Antiviral Immunity and Viral Counter-Defense Strategies
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Crop Antiviral Immunity and Viral Counter-Defense Strategies

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Pest and Disease Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 August 2026 | Viewed by 803

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mingfeng Feng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Forestry Biosecurity, State & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Green Pesticide Invention and Application, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Interests: plant protection; plant disease
Dr. Qiang Gao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Grassland Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Interests: plant protection; plant–virus interaction

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Viral diseases pose a severe threat to global food security, driving decades of explorations into crop antiviral immunity and viral counter-defense. Early research centered on cloning resistance (R) genes, while recent breakthroughs have unraveled core molecular networks, such as RNA silencing, autophagy pathways, phytohormone-mediated antiviral immunity, and NLR receptor-mediated antiviral immunity, alongside viral evasion via viral effectors, suppressors, viral genomics, and epigenetic manipulation. This Special Issue focuses on crop antiviral immunity mechanisms, viral counter-defense strategies, and crop–virus interactions. It highlights cutting-edge advances, including deciphering novel molecular mechanisms of viral effector proteins, non-canonical and canonical immune pathways, CRISPR-mediated resistance engineering, identification and utilization of novel antiviral genes, and AI-driven resistance gene improvement. We welcome original research, reviews, and perspectives on (1) viral pathogen identification and phylogeny; (2) molecular genetics of viral pathogenesis; (3) crop antiviral immunity mechanisms; and (4) antiviral breeding and biotechnologies.

This Special Issue aims to integrate and share pivotal knowledge on crop antiviral research, advancing sustainable agricultural development. We eagerly anticipate your valuable contributions.

Dr. Mingfeng Feng
Dr. Qiang Gao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • plant virus
  • antiviral immunity
  • viral counter-defense
  • NLR
  • viral effector
  • virus–host plant interaction

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 1935 KB  
Article
SnRK1α Restricts Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus Infection by Targeting the Viral Silencing Suppressor NSs for 26S Proteasome-Mediated Degradation
by Xingwang Zhang, Yulong Yuan, Qinhai Liu, Tianyi Zhang, Yuting Gao, Shenghan Zang, Jiwen Tian, Anji Lv, Jia Li, Min Zhu, Yinghua Ji, Xiaorong Tao and Mingfeng Feng
Agronomy 2026, 16(3), 284; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy16030284 - 23 Jan 2026
Viewed by 609
Abstract
Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) is one of the most important plants segmented negative-strand RNA viruses (NSVs). Plants employ the ubiquitin–proteasome system (UPS) and autophagy pathways to degrade viral effector proteins, forming a key antiviral defense layer. SnRK1 functions as a central energy [...] Read more.
Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) is one of the most important plants segmented negative-strand RNA viruses (NSVs). Plants employ the ubiquitin–proteasome system (UPS) and autophagy pathways to degrade viral effector proteins, forming a key antiviral defense layer. SnRK1 functions as a central energy sensor and plays pivotal roles in plant growth and development, as well as immune defense. However, whether SnRK1 modulates the infection of plant segmented NSVs and the underlying regulatory mechanisms remains elusive. In this study, we found that nonstructural protein NSs, a viral suppressor of RNA silencing (VSR) encoded by TSWV, specifically interacts with the catalytic α subunit of host SnRK1 (SnRK1α). NbSnRK1α promotes the degradation of NSs via the 26S proteasome pathway, independently of autophagy. Transient silencing of NbSnRK1α led to increased accumulation of the NSs protein. Furthermore, we found that NbSnRK1α significantly impairs the VSR activity of NSs by promoting its degradation, thereby restoring the host’s RNAi-mediated antiviral defense. Subsequent viral infection assays confirmed that NbSnRK1α inhibits TSWV replication, whereas silencing NbSnRK1α enhances the susceptibility of Nicotiana benthamiana to TSWV infection and facilitates systemic viral spread and disease symptom development. Our study uncovers a new antiviral defense case by which NbSnRK1α enhances host antiviral immunity through targeting a segmented negative-strand RNA viral effector for 26S proteasomal degradation, broadening the understanding of the NbSnRK1’s role in broad-spectrum antiviral defense. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crop Antiviral Immunity and Viral Counter-Defense Strategies)
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