Date Palm Tree’s Defense Mechanisms from Viral Infection and Solar Ultraviolet Radiation

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 .