ABSTRACT
This chapter brings together some of the information that bears upon the early events in the establishment of virus infections of plants. For probably any virus-host system, the early events in the establishment of infection can be thought of as those essential activities which occur during the period from the first contact between virion and host cell to the point where the parental viral nucleic acid can begin to function in translation, transcription or integration into the host genome. The chapter focuses on the early events in cells, single or in tissue, which are the first to become infected after inoculation. It investigates the early events in virus infections of leaves and protoplasts and of the interaction of virus particles with subcellular fractions and membranous substances. The chapter describes the various stages involved in the early events and discusses the manner in which they have been investigated in plants.
