# Plant Viral Vectors for Vaccine Development

**Authors:** Mehdi Shahgolzari, Afagh Yavari, Srividhya Venkataraman, Mehrin Faija, Kathleen Hefferon

PMC · DOI: 10.3390/vaccines14010081 · Vaccines · 2026-01-12

## TL;DR

This paper reviews how plant viruses can be used to quickly produce vaccines in plants, offering advantages over traditional methods.

## Contribution

The paper highlights recent progress and benefits of using plant viral vectors for vaccine development.

## Key findings

- Plant viral vectors like tobacco mosaic virus can produce recombinant proteins faster and in larger amounts.
- Vaccines made from plant viruses have triggered immune responses and provided protection against infections.
- Examples like cowpea mosaic virus and potato virus X are promising for vaccine development.

## Abstract

Plant viruses are useful tools for quickly and easily producing recombinant proteins in plants. Compared to systems that use genetically modified plants, viral vectors are easier to work with and can produce recombinant proteins faster and in larger amounts. Recently, there has been growing interest in using plant viruses as vectors to make vaccines, either as whole proteins or as small parts displayed on plant virus particles. The best examples for this purpose are tobacco mosaic virus, cowpea mosaic virus and potato virus X. Vaccines made using these viruses target various human and animal diseases and have often triggered immune responses and provided protection against infections. This review looks at the benefits of using plant virus vectors, the progress in developing different viral vector systems, and immune studies that support the idea of vaccines made from plant viruses.

## Full-text entities

- **Species:** Potato virus X (no rank) [taxon 12183], Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606], Tobacco mosaic virus (no rank) [taxon 12242], Cowpea mosaic virus (no rank) [taxon 12264]

## Full text

_Full body text omitted from this summary view._ Fetch the complete paper as Markdown: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12846470/full.md

## Figures

2 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12846470/full.md

## References

147 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12846470/full.md

---
Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12846470