Plant-virus-host interaction is a complex process involving several players. A constant arms race between the hosts and viruses has led to their co-evolution. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are important signaling molecules that regulate plant growth, development, and stress responses. Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) has a wide host range and infects several plant species such as barley, rice, oats, wheat, etc. A recent study by Tian et al. (2024) has highlighted that the movement protein (MP) of BYDV is involved in manipulation of the host ROS pathway to promote viral multiplication as well as transmission. The findings display the multifaceted role of a viral protein that is otherwise involved in movement. The limited coding ability of viruses is compensated by their proteins having multiple roles in the modulation of several different host molecular pathways. This is one of the key reasons for viruses being successful pathogens despite their limited coding ability.
