Articles
Comparison of express-diagnostic kit and PCR tests for detection of Tomato brown rugose fruit virus
Article number
1351_18
Pages
113 – 118
Language
English
Abstract
Currently, indoor vegetable production is one of the leading areas of agriculture.
Tomato is the most important vegetable crop and its production increases every year.
When growing tomato, the quality and volume of yield is affected by contamination by phytopathogenic microorganisms, mainly viruses.
When growing conditions are optimal, the plants often show no symptoms, but when conditions deteriorate, the viruses can cause enormous damage.
However, Tomato brown rugose fruit virus, ToBRFV, has proved to be the most acute problem for tomato production worldwide, causing huge economic losses to tomato and pepper producers worldwide.
Its spread via seeds and parts of plants has prompted many countries to introduce phytosanitary measures and to include ToBRFV on their lists of quarantine pests.
A number of countries have restrictions on the import of not only seeds and seedlings for planting but even on harvested tomato and pepper fruits infected with ToBRFV. Rapid diagnostic methods, such as the lateral flow device, allow growers to test the presence of viruses in plants throughout the season without resorting to costly laboratory analyses and, if a phytopathogen is detected, to contact the plant quarantine service in a timely manner.
Reference virus isolates of the genus Tobamovirus, as well as tomato fruits infected with ToBRFV identified through phytosanitary testing were used during the evaluation of specificity and sensitivity of the kits.
Upon completion of the experiments, it was found that the main problem of the kits was low specificity, due to false positive reactions with Tomato mottle mosaic virus and widespread Tobacco mosaic virus and Tomato mosaic virus. The possibility of non-specific reactions of this kit with some other tobamoviruses infecting tomato and pepper plants that were not included in the studies due to the absence of their reference isolates is not excluded.
In this regard, the positive results of ToBRFV tests by the lateral flow device method have to necessarily be confirmed by PCR with specific primers.
Tomato is the most important vegetable crop and its production increases every year.
When growing tomato, the quality and volume of yield is affected by contamination by phytopathogenic microorganisms, mainly viruses.
When growing conditions are optimal, the plants often show no symptoms, but when conditions deteriorate, the viruses can cause enormous damage.
However, Tomato brown rugose fruit virus, ToBRFV, has proved to be the most acute problem for tomato production worldwide, causing huge economic losses to tomato and pepper producers worldwide.
Its spread via seeds and parts of plants has prompted many countries to introduce phytosanitary measures and to include ToBRFV on their lists of quarantine pests.
A number of countries have restrictions on the import of not only seeds and seedlings for planting but even on harvested tomato and pepper fruits infected with ToBRFV. Rapid diagnostic methods, such as the lateral flow device, allow growers to test the presence of viruses in plants throughout the season without resorting to costly laboratory analyses and, if a phytopathogen is detected, to contact the plant quarantine service in a timely manner.
Reference virus isolates of the genus Tobamovirus, as well as tomato fruits infected with ToBRFV identified through phytosanitary testing were used during the evaluation of specificity and sensitivity of the kits.
Upon completion of the experiments, it was found that the main problem of the kits was low specificity, due to false positive reactions with Tomato mottle mosaic virus and widespread Tobacco mosaic virus and Tomato mosaic virus. The possibility of non-specific reactions of this kit with some other tobamoviruses infecting tomato and pepper plants that were not included in the studies due to the absence of their reference isolates is not excluded.
In this regard, the positive results of ToBRFV tests by the lateral flow device method have to necessarily be confirmed by PCR with specific primers.
Publication
Authors
Y. Shneyder, E. Karimova, T. Zhivaeva, E. Lozovaya, I. Bashkirova, Y. Prikhodko
Keywords
ToBRFV, lateral flow device, LFD, specificity, sensitivity, quarantine
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