Biological Warfare against Crops

Rogers, Paul; Whitby, Simon M.; Dando, Malcolm

doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0699-70

Cited by 62 publications

(27 citation statements)

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“…Biowarfare and bioterrorism issues are very much in the news and the potential for the use of such agents in an agricultural environment should be of concern to the public health community (97,98). As we become more facile at stabilizing virus vectors and gain a better understanding of microbial pathogenesis from genomic and proteomic programs, these agents have the potential for being deployed for unsavory purposes.…”

Section: Perceived Risks Associated With Virus Vectorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant Virus Gene Vectors: Biotechnology Applications in Agriculture and Medicine

Mirkov

Scholthof

2002

Genetic Engineering

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INTRODUCTIONPlant virus vectors have been developed as a result of 20 years of advances in molecular biology, which produced infectious plasmid-based clones of RNA and DNA plant viruses and viroids that could be routinely amplified in E. coli. This work built on a century of progress in virology, much of which was based on understanding the biology of Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) (1). With the availability of the rice and Arabidopis draft genome sequences, expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and microarrays, crystal structures of many plant viruses, and public interest in non-transgenic strategies for crop improvement, the technology of plant virus gene vectors holds much promise for the coming decade (2-4). The intent of this review is to define virus-vector strategies, describe uses for improving crop health, and point out possible beneficial overlaps with veterinary and human medicine.*To whom correspondence should be addressed.(1) Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Weslaco, TX 78596. DEFINING THE SYSTEMSMethods to regenerate transgenic plants are widely used in plant biology and biotechnology. This involves the use of either Agrobacterium tumefaciens or biolistics (e.g., gene guns) to deliver genetically customized gene expression cassettes into the nucleus of a plant cell. In this case, the DNA becomes integrated into the chromosome and with the use of selectable markers and tissue culture procedures, the cells containing the foreign insert serve as the progenitors for regeneration of whole transgenic plants. This process usually takes at least several months, and mostly longer, to obtain plants with a stable genetic trait.Plant viruses cause harmful diseases that can result in significant reductions in crop yield and economic losses to growers. However, from a biotechnology point of view, viruses collectively can also be regarded as 'molecular tools' (2). One intriguing applicable feature of plant viruses is their capacity to serve as gene vectors. With rare exception (5, 6), plant viruses do not integrate into the plant chromosome but instead transiently express their genes upon infection (7). Because plant viruses replicate to a very high copy number in infected cells, substantial levels of gene expression can be achieved. By standard molecular biology techniques, plant viruses can be supplied with foreign genes and within a few days after inoculation, plant virus gene vectors can provide high levels of transient foreign gene expression (2,4,(8)(9)(10)(11)(12).Many proteins used for biotechnology applications are not biologically active unless they undergo specific post-translational modifications, such as glycosylation or phosphorylation, in eukaryotic cells. Plants are attractive substrates for the synthesis and purification of proteins because they can carry out these modifications and, through the ages of agricultural development, it has become fairly straightforward to grow crop plants that yield a large, uniform biomass. In many cases it is desirable to have the foreign gene expressed in transgenic p...

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Section: Perceived Risks Associated With Virus Vectorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant Virus Gene Vectors: Biotechnology Applications in Agriculture and Medicine

Mirkov

Scholthof

2002

Genetic Engineering

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“…Agriculture and food are extremely tempting targets because of the economic, social, and political impact ( [29][30][31][32][33][34], D Franz, personal communication, Kansas State University). In many countries, societies take the robustness and security of their food supply for granted.…”

Section: Threats and Accompanying Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial forensics: the next forensic challenge

2005

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Pathogens and toxins can be converted to bioweapons and used to commit bioterrorism and biocrime. Because of the potential and relative ease of an attack using a bioweapon, forensic science needs to be prepared to assist in the investigation to bring perpetrators to justice and to deter future attacks. A new subfield of forensics--microbial forensics--has been created, which is focused on characterization of evidence from a bioterrorism act, biocrime, hoax, or an inadvertent release. Forensic microbiological investigations are essentially the same as any other forensic investigation regarding processing. They involve crime scene(s) investigation, chain of custody practices, evidence collection, handling and preservation, evidence shipping, analysis of evidence, interpretation of results, and court presentation. In addition to collecting and analyzing traditional forensic evidence, the forensic investigation will attempt to determine the etiology and identity of the causal agent, often in a similar fashion as in an epidemiologic investigation. However, for attribution, higher-resolution characterization is needed. The tools for attribution include genetic- and nongenetic-based assays and informatics to attempt to determine the unique source of a sample or at least eliminate some sources. In addition, chemical and physical assays may help determine the process used to prepare, store, or disseminate the bioweapon. An effective microbial forensics program will require development and/or validation of all aspects of the forensic investigative process, from sample collection to interpretation of results. Quality assurance (QA) and QC practices, comparable to those used by the forensic DNA science community, are being implemented. Lastly, partnerships with other laboratories will be requisite, because many of the necessary capabilities for analysis will not reside in the traditional forensic laboratory.

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“…Based on the limited documentation that is readily accessible, there are reports that stem rust (Puccinia graminis) is considered at least as a prototype for testing the dispersal of spores (67). Fungi such as Fusarium and Aspergillus are other possible agents to deploy; strains that are engineered to express enhanced or multiple forms of fumonisins or aflatoxin.…”

Section: Biological Warfare and Terrorismmentioning

confidence: 99%

One Foot in the Furrow: Linkages Between Agriculture, Plant Pathology, and Public Health

Scholthof

2003

Annu. Rev. Public Health

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Key Words genetically modified crops, mycotoxigenic fungi, biological control, environmental health, disease triangle s Abstract Plant pathology is a field of biology that focuses on understanding the nature of disease in plants as well as on more practical aspects of preventing and controlling plant diseases in crop plants that are important to agriculture. Throughout history, plant diseases have had significant effects on human health and welfare. Several examples, in both historical and contemporary contexts, are presented in this review to show how plant pathogens, biotechnology, and farming practices have affected public health. Specific topics illustrating clear linkages between agriculture and human health include allergens in the environment, food-safety and agricultural practices, mycotoxigenic fungi, agrobioterrorism, and the biological control of plant diseases. The further argument is made that in order to monitor and ensure that good health and safety practices are maintained from "farm to fork," public health specialists may benefit from the resources and expertise of agricultural scientists. Man does not live by bread alone-but he must have bread. And he must have bread that is truly a staff of life, not a scepter of death (44).

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Biological Warfare against Crops

Cited by 62 publications

References 0 publications

Plant Virus Gene Vectors: Biotechnology Applications in Agriculture and Medicine

Plant Virus Gene Vectors: Biotechnology Applications in Agriculture and Medicine

Microbial forensics: the next forensic challenge

One Foot in the Furrow: Linkages Between Agriculture, Plant Pathology, and Public Health

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