Plant Virus Biotechnology

IBMCP (CSIC-Universitat Politècnica de València)

Plants host a large variety of infectious agents that frequently cause damage to crops and natural ecosystems. The goal of our research group is to understand at the molecular level the interaction between plants and some of these pathogens, such as viruses and viroids. From this knowledge, we aim to develop new biotechnological strategies for crop protection and innovation. In addition, we believe that we can take advantage of the remarkable biological properties of plant viruses and viroids by converting them into useful biotechnological tools. Also our goal is to develop systems to obtain products of interest, such as recombinant proteins, nanoparticles, metabolites or recombinant RNAs in biofactory plants, using conveniently engineered viruses and viroids. We envision a future in which cultivated plants will be the most reliable and sustainable source of food, feed, fibers, fuel, and pharmaceutical and chemical products for human kind.

More specifically, some of our ongoing projects aim to:

1. Develop virus-based expression vectors to facilitate CRISPR-Cas genome engineering in plants. See Uranga et al. 2023 Hortic. Res. or Aragonés et al. 2022 Biotechnol. J.

2. Produce virus-derived nanoparticles decorated with molecules of interest, such as antibodies, in biofactory plants. See Merwaiss et al. 2023 Plant Biotechnol. J. or Martí et al. 2022 Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.

3. Produce recombinant double-stranded RNA for crop protection against pests and pathogens. See Ortolá et al. 2023 Pest Manag. Sci. or Ortolá et al. 2021 RNA Biol.

4. Produce metabolically fortified plants and fruits using viral vectors. See Houhou et al. 2022 Biotechnol. J. or Martí et al. 2020 Metab. Eng.

5. Develop viral vectors to produce recombinant proteins in plants. See Talens-Perales et al. 2023 Curr. Res. Biotechnol. or Talens-Perales et al. 2022 Sci. Rep.

6. Decipher how viruses and viroid RNAs are able to replicate, overcome defenses and move systemically through the host plants. See Ortolá & Daròs 2022 Biology.

Our group is part of the Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), a joint center between Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) and the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV).