Аннотация:Plants are continuously subjected to diverse range of stresses, and one of them is viral infection that could lead to severe damage of agricultural plants and cause a great loss of yield. High rate of viral genome mutations gives good opportunity for viruses to infect multiple host species. Study of the mechanisms and cellular factors involved in plant defense reactions could reveal new opportunities and instruments for crop protection. One of the factors playing a significant role in plant-virus interactions is Kunitz protease inhibitor-like protein (KPILP) gene in plants of Solanaceae family. It has been shown that KPILP expression increases sharply in response to potato virus X and tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) infection in Nicotiana benthamiana and N. tabacum, respectively. KPILP is a glycoprotein that stimulates intercellular transport of macromolecules and induces the decrease of callose accumulation level at plasmodesmata - channels, through which low and high molecular weight compounds are transported between cells.We suggest that KPILP interacts with viral proteins and/or other cellular factors and stimulates viral reproduction and spread. Therefore, TMV induces KPILP expression creating favorable conditions for the development of the effective viral infection.