About the Cover
On the Cover: The cover of this special Focus Issue on Virus-Plant Cell Interaction shows a Nicotiana tabacum cv Xanthi NN leaf with necrotic lesions that represent hypersensitive response to infection by tobacco mosaic virus. On this background, electron micrographs of diverse plant virions, i.e. tobamoviruses, geminiviruses, and caulimoviruses, are shown. Insets illustrate different aspects of the virus-plant interaction, such as induction of stunted growth, dense accumulation of virions within infected cells, localization of the viral cell-to-cell movement protein to plasmodesmata and microtubules, a plant plasmodesma through which viruses move from cell to cell, immunodetection of tobacco mosaic virus (black and gray areas) in cells of a class V minor vein in N. tabacum cv Xanthi, and expanding infection ring of a green fluorescent protein-tagged virus within an infected leaf. Viruses not only are pathogens against which plants should be protected, but also represent valuable and often unique tools for studies of a wide spectrum of basic biological processes of the host cell. Some of the major aspects of the virus-plant cell interactions are highlighted in this issue. Cover design by Vitaly Citovsky (SUNY Stony Brook) and Richard S. Nelson (Nobel Foundation) and the members of their labs.
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Copyright © 2007 by the American Society of Plant Biologists
