It is alone sufficient to eliminate antiviral defence to unrelated viruses in RNase3-transgenic sweetpotato plants and predisposes sweetpotato to development of the severe sweetpotato virus disease (SPVD) following infection with Sweet potato feathery mottle virus (SPFMV; Potyvirus, Potyviridae) [21]. This evidence concerns the gene RNASE3 and infection.