Amarilleos en los cultivos de tomate asociados a Tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV) y Tomato infectious chlorosis virus (TICV) en España

FONT M. I., A. M. VAIRA, G. P. ACCOTTO, A. LACASA, J. SERRA, J. GOMILA, M. JUAREZ, A.I. ESPINO, M. C. JORDA. Yellowing of tomato crops associated with Tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV) and Tomato infectious chlorosis virus (TICV) in Spain. Bol. San. Veg. Plagas, 29: 109-121. During 1997, tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) crops with symptoms of interveinal yellowing, brozing, brittleness, and rolling of lower leaves were observed in Malaga and Almeria (southern Spain) and Tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV) was detected for the first time in Spain in 2000 as the causal agent of this disease. Later similar symptoms began to be observed in other tomato crops in Sevilla, Murcia, Alicante, Castellon, Mallorca, Tenerife and Gran Canaria and ToCV was also identified as the causal agent in most of the samples analyzed. In additiou, in several tomato samples collected during the summer of 2001 in Castellon province tomato crops a new virus: Tomato infectious chlorosis virus (TICV) was identified. This was the first report of TICV in Spain. To our knowledge, TICV has only been detected in Spain, within the Castellon and Alicante provinces. ToCV and TICV are both whitefly-transmitted criniviruses. They are transmitted in a semipersistent manner and are phloem-limited tomato-infecting viruses. ToCV is transmitted by Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood), T. abutilonea (Haldeman) and Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius); whereas TICV is transmitted only by T. vaporariorum. The host range of these viruses includes some important crops and ornamental species. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using ToCVand TICVspecific primers was used for the reliable diagnosis of ToCV and TICV in field samples.