First Report of Tomato blistering mosaic virus Infecting Tomato in Argentina

Abstract

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) ranks as the most important crop among greenhouseplanted crops in terms of cultivated areas (17,800 ha) and production in Argentina. In September 2014, farmers reported that tomato plants of cv. Elpida (Enza Zaden) showed mosaic and blistering on leaves in La Plata (Buenos Aires green-belt). The diseased plants occurred together in the same line, showing a typical pattern of mechanically transmitted pathogens. Although incidence did not exceed 1.5%, it was distributed in several distant locations within the district, posting a serious threat to the tomato production.