TITLE:
Date Palm Tree’s Defense Mechanisms from Viral Infection and Solar Ultraviolet Radiation
AUTHORS:
Sabah A. A. Jassim, Richard G. Limoges
KEYWORDS:
Date Palm Trees; Phoenix dactylifera L.; Antiviral; Defense Mechanisms; Innate Immunity; Solar Ultraviolet Radiation
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Microbiology,
Vol.4 No.1,
January
2,
2014
ABSTRACT: A comprehensive review of scientific literature
has uncovered no reported cases of date palm trees infected by a virus and no
viral infections have been reported by farmers. In spite of the hot and humid
environment they inhabit, the abundance of viral infestations in the soil,
other plants and organisms surrounding the trees and the frequency of
importation and transplantation of these trees into the region. Such conditions
should cause the date palms to also be infected. Notably, other palm trees do
not exhibit the same level of innate viral immunity that is found in date
palms. The date palm tree’s innate viral immunity is a virgin area in botanical
research. The biological segment in date palm tree DNA that enables survival
under genotoxic radiation also deserves further investigation. This field of
study may enable the breeding of other economically important plants to improve
desert ecology and economy, land management, agriculture and horticulture.