An improved plaque reduction assay for antiviral activity was developed and used to examine extracts from sixty-one higher plants. Substantial antiviral activity was observed in ca. 20%, which is higher than might be expected given the limited metabolic differences between viruses and their hosts. The frequent antiviral activity may represent phytoalexins elaborated to protect against plant viruses.
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Abou‐Karam et al. (1990) studied this question.