Plant Virus Based Vectors |
A major research focus of our laboratory is the development and application of plant viral-based vectors to develop novel disease control strategies and products for plant and animal diseases.
To date, the vectors have been used to transiently express sequences to facilitate the study of various aspects of viroid/host interactions, including movement and pathogenesis.
We are also utilizing plant viral-based vectors to produce subunit vaccines and diagnostic reagents for animal diseases, such as Newcastle Disease Virus of poultry.
Design and use of novel plant virus-based vectors and plant virus capsid fusions for expression of foreign genes having potential for control of plant and animal diseases. The figure illustrates the fusion of a neutralizing epitope of an animal virus (red) to the capsid protein of a plant virus (blue).