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A mini-review on electrotherapeutic strategy for the plant viral elimination

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Abstract

Plants have electrophysiological phenomena and are influenced by external electrical fields too. Plants have been studied for this property since the early 17th century. Stimulation in the physiological processes of plants in response to the electric field was observed in several studies. The use of electric current for phytosanitation purposes was known since the 19th century. This approach gained much attention only during the late 90s when electrotherapy applied to viral-stressed plants showed viral elimination possibilities. Concerning viruses, electrotherapy has shown an elimination rate greater than 50% over a varied range of voltage, time duration, and the plant part subjected to electro-exposure. Until now, the understanding of this mechanism is obscure, and assumptions included an increase in cell temperature causing denaturation of virus particles or its movement protein. Thus, a brief bibliographic research review would give directions for improving virus eradication from infected crops and producing virus-free plant stock material using an inexpensive and rapid electrotherapy technique in the future. Alongside, comprehensive studies are needed for a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms behind electrotherapy. Viral eliminations in plants via electro-exposure blended with other therapies such as thermotherapy, cryotherapy or chemotherapy are also discussed. The studies revealed that in some cases, electrotherapy alone is a more reliable method for producing virus-free plants, whereas, in others, the therapy combined with other virus-elimination techniques exhibited a higher virus-elimination efficiency rate.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to specially thank Dr. Afaque Quraishi for his critical revision and final approval for the review article’s drafting.

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  1. School of Studies in Biotechnology, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur, 492010, India

    Smriti Adil, Vikram Singh, Afreen Anjum & Afaque Quraishi

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  2. Vikram Singh
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Adil, S., Singh, V., Anjum, A. et al. A mini-review on electrotherapeutic strategy for the plant viral elimination. Plant Cell Tiss Organ Cult 150, 41–55 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-022-02265-w

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