Host resistance to viruses can show dominant or recessive inheritance. Remarkably, recessive resistance genes are much more common for viruses than for other plant pathogens. Recessive resistances to viruses are especially well documented within the dicotyledons, and have been described for various viruses that belong to very different viral genera, although clearly they predominate among viruses belonging to the genus Potyvirus. The elucidation of the molecular nature of this particular class of resistance genes is recent, but has so far only revealed a group of proteins linked to the translation machinery, chiefly the eukaryotic translation initiation factors (eIF) 4E and 4G, which are the subject of this chapter. Thus, we will briefly review how translation initiation is performed in eukaryotes, to then describe the features and mechanisms of eIF4E- and 4G-mediated resistances to potyviruses and viruses belonging to other genera, such as carmoviruses. We will bring the chapter to a close by summarizing conclusions and offering potential research perspectives in this field