Tomato chlorosis virus, a promiscuous virus with multiple host plants and whitefly vectors

Abstract

Tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV, genus Crinivirus, family Closteroviridae) is an emerging plant virus first identified in the mid-1990s affecting tomato in Florida. Today, the virus is present in at least 39 countries and territories around the world, and this number has not stopped growing. ToCV prevalence in tomato has been reported to frequently reach 100%, with a consequent loss in production. Although ToCV infects mainly tomato, it has been reported to infect a wide range of plants, both cultivated and wild, including many economically important crops, such as pepper and potato. To date, 119 species of host plants belonging to 28 families have been recorded. ToCV is transmitted in nature by whiteflies belonging to two genera, namely members of the Bemisia tabaci complex and Trialeurodes vaporariorum and Trialeurodes abutiloneus. This review summarises what is known about ToCV, an example of an emerging plant pathogen, and is the basis of the Association of Applied Biologists' Description of Plant Viruses for ToCV.