March 30, 2006
From: ProMED-mail<promed@promedmail.org>
Source:  www.abc.net.au [edited]
<http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/2006/s1603713.htm>

Queensland officials have confirmed an outbreak of an exotic virus in tomato crops near Brisbane. Yellow leaf curl virus has never before been found in Australia and has the potential to cut production significantly.

Chris Adriaansen, from the Department of Primary Industries, says up to 40 small farms could be affected, but says seedling nurseries that supply growers in other parts of the state are so far clear. "Yellow leaf curl is quite a serious virus of tomatoes," Mr Adriaansen said. "In other parts of the world where it has attacked before it's been responsible for very significant losses, in some cases up to 100 per cent. "Any part of the plant above the infected site will not produce flowers or fruit properly."

--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

[The crop plant tomato, _Lycopersicon esculentum_, is susceptible to the disease yellow leaf curl, caused by the tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) (family: _Geminiviridae_, genus: _Begomovirus_). TYLCV can cause serious fruit loss and is the main limiting factor in tomato production in many parts of the world. It frequently enters new areas on transplants, a concern expressed in the above article.

The whitefly _Bemisia tabaci_ is the efficient vector of the virus; once spread has begun, management is very difficult. The need to post this article is clear, since this is the first report of a virus that has caused serious disease losses wherever is has been reported.

Tomato leaf curl virus (TLCV-Aus) is a begomovirus that has caused disease in tomato in Australia since 1971 (see ProMED-mail posts referenced below) and is described and mapped in the A2 list of EPPO for TYLCV and similar viruses. TLCV-Aus is known to be very similar to a strain of TYLCV from Thailand (TYLCV-Thai). It remains to be seen which of the multiple strains of TYLCV this new Australian isolate resembles. A summary of the Australia begomoviruses and a set of diseased tomato photographs can be found in the final link below. Recent outbreaks of begomoviruses causing severe disease in tomato in Indonesia, Uganda and South Carolina USA were also the subject of a recent post (20060304.0702), which should be consulted for additional information and multiple references.

Maps: Worldwide distribution tomato yellow leaf curl virus <http://www.eppo.org/QUARANTINE/virus/TYLC_virus/TYLCV00_map.htm>
Australia, Queensland
<http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/oceania/aussnew.htm>
Pictures: <http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/veg/leaf/TYLCV.jpg>
<http://www.lsuagcenter.com/Subjects/MasterGardener/LafourcheTerrebonne/Horticulutre/Image23.jpg> 

Virus: <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ICTVdb/ICTVdB/29030043.htm>
Links: <http://www.defra.gov.uk/planth/pestnote/yellow.htm>
<http://www.gaipm.org/vegetable/tomato_yellow_leaf_curl.html>
<http://www.avrdc.org/LC/tomato/tylcv.html>
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ICTVdb/ICTVdB/29030043.htm>
<http://www.eppo.org/QUARANTINE/listA2.htm>
<http://vir.sgmjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/75/3/477>
<http://www2.dpi.qld.gov.au/health/4250.html>
- Mod.JAD]

[see also in the archive:
Yellow leaf curl, tomato - Multicountry: 1st reports 20060304.0702
2003
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Tomato leaf curl, tomato - Australia 20030608.1413]