when very small viruses infect a plant cell by crossing a membrane, the viruses often spread rapidly throughout the entire plant without crossing additional membranes. Explain how this occurs.

i think it has something to do with cytoplasmic streaming but i'm not sure.....help!

When very small viruses infect a plant cell and spread rapidly throughout the entire plant without crossing additional membranes, a process known as cytoplasmic streaming plays a significant role. Cytoplasmic streaming refers to the movement of the plant cell's cytoplasm, which carries various substances including the virus particles.

Here's a step-by-step explanation of how cytoplasmic streaming helps with the rapid spread of viruses within a plant:

1. Upon infecting a plant cell, the virus releases its genetic material (RNA or DNA) into the host cell's cytoplasm.

2. The viral genetic material then hijacks the cellular machinery of the plant cell to produce new virus particles.

3. As the virus particles are being generated within the infected cell, they take advantage of the plant cell's natural process of cytoplasmic streaming.

4. Cytoplasmic streaming involves the movement of cytoplasmic components, including organelles and molecules, within the plant cell. This movement is facilitated by specialized structures called microtubules and actin filaments that form a network throughout the cytoplasm.

5. The virus particles exploit this cytoplasmic streaming by becoming physically associated with the moving cytoplasmic stream.

6. As the cytoplasmic stream moves throughout the plant cell, the virus particles are carried along with it, effectively spreading to different parts of the infected cell.

7. Since the movement of cytoplasmic streaming can be quite extensive within plant cells, the virus particles can reach distant areas of the infected cell quickly and efficiently.

8. As a result, the viruses can rapidly infect neighboring plant cells within the same tissue or even enter vascular tissues to spread throughout the entire plant, all without the need to cross additional membranes.

Therefore, cytoplasmic streaming serves as a mechanism that allows very small viruses to exploit the natural movement of cytoplasmic components within plant cells, enabling their rapid and efficient spread throughout the entire plant without crossing additional membranes.