(a grass that is a model monocot for genetics research). One example of an accomplishment of BSMV gene silencing has been used to detect the location of powdery mildew resistance genes in barley. BSMV was the first virus-induced gene silencer found in monocots, which is important because many crops such as corn, rice, rye, sugarcane, sorghum, and the hosts of BSMV are monocots. This allows for a way to study the genes in monocots and for a way to compare the findings to those of the virus-induced gene silencing in dicots. References Viral plant pathogens and diseases Virgaviridae