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First reports of tomato brown rugose fruit virus in Austria, Switzerland

A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org

Date: Mon 9 Aug 2021
Source: HortiDaily [summ., edited]
https://www.hortidaily.com/article/9342639/first-report-of-tomato-brown-rugose-fruit-virus-in-austria-and-switzerland/

The National Plant Protection Organisation of Austria recently reported the 1st detection of _Tomato brown rugose fruit virus_ (ToBRFV) on its territory. The virus was detected in a glasshouse producing tomato fruit at the end of June 2021 in the state of Niederoesterreich [Lower Austria]. Symptoms were not severe. Eradication measures are taken and include the destruction of all plants, fruits, and growing medium (rock wool), as well as disinfection of containers, storage facilities, and equipment.

In Switzerland, the suspected presence of ToBRFV has now been confirmed in the canton of Thurgau on tomatoes. The virus is classified as a potential quarantine pest and producers are required to report suspected cases to the authorities immediately. This occurred in July 2021 for a farm near Zurich. The regional plant protection service, in collaboration with federal authorities, has taken measures to control and monitor the outbreak to prevent the spread of the virus.

--
communicated by:
ProMED
<promed@promedmail.org>

[_Tomato brown rugose fruit virus_ (ToBRFV) was recently identified as a new member of the genus _Tobamovirus_ (type member _Tobacco mosaic virus_, TMV) in Jordan and soon after in Israel (see links below). Since then, it has also been reported from a number of other countries in Europe and the Mediterranean region, where it appears to be spreading, as well as from North America and China. It was shown to also affect capsicum and has been detected in both plants and seed of both crops. ToBRFV symptoms on tomato vary depending on host cultivar but may include chlorosis, mottling, mosaic, and crinkling (rugosis) on leaves; necrotic spots on petioles and calyces; yellowish mottling, brown spots, and rugosis on fruit, making them unmarketable. On capsicum, leaf symptoms are similar; fruits may be deformed with yellow mottling or green stripes. Almost 100% incidence was reported for some outbreaks in tomato but not every fruit on an infected plant may show symptoms.

ToBRFV (like many tobamoviruses) is seed transmitted and can also be spread by mechanical means, contaminated equipment, as well as with plant or other materials. It is very stable and can remain infectious for months outside a host. Recently, bumblebees which are used widely as commercial pollinators in glasshouse tomato production, have been shown to be effective vectors of ToBRFV (see link below). Volunteer crop plants and solanaceous weed species are likely pathogen reservoirs. The Tm-22 resistance gene used in some tomato cultivars to protect from other tobamoviruses (such as _Tomato mosaic virus_) does not appear to be effective against ToBRFV. Disease management relies mainly on exclusion but may include phytosanitation (disinfecting tools, removing crop debris) and control of virus reservoirs. Use of certified clean seeds or tomato transplants is crucial. Research on possible seed treatments to eliminate the virus is being carried out (see link below). Tomato seeds are traded widely and are known to pose a risk for spreading viruses and other pathogens internationally (for example, ProMED post 20140122.2222560).

Coinfection of ToBRFV with _Pepino mosaic virus_ (genus _Potexvirus_) and _Tomato spotted wilt virus_ (genus _Orthotospovirus_) have been found (ProMED posts 20191029.6751082, 20200507.7307615). It is thought that the respective symptoms on tomatoes may be due to either virus or to synergism. Further research is needed to clarify a potential role of ToBRFV in coinfections and to determine whether its presence in coinfections may have led to earlier cases of misdiagnosis and delayed identification of this new virus.

Maps
Austria
http://healthmap.org/promed/p/109 and
https://www.worldometers.info/img/maps/austria_political_map.gif (with states)
Switzerland
http://healthmap.org/promed/p/105 and
https://www.nationsonline.org/maps/switzerland-admin-map.jpg (with cantons)

Pictures
ToBRFV symptoms on tomato:
https://gd.eppo.int/media/data/taxon/T/TOBRFV/pics/1024x0/4137.jpg,
https://gd.eppo.int/media/data/taxon/T/TOBRFV/pics/1024x0/4138.jpg,
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/figure/image?size=inline&id=10.1371/journal.pone.0170429.g001, and
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321639141/figure/fig2/AS:569722670247937@1512843877331/Tomato-brown-rugose-fruit-virus-ToBRFV-infected-tomato-Solanum-lycopersicum-plants.png

Links
Additional news stories (in German):
https://www.tg.ch/news.html/485/news/53464/l/de and
https://www.freshplaza.de/article/9343054/tomatenvirus-im-thurgau-festgestellt/
Information and characterisation of ToBRFV:
https://gd.eppo.int/taxon/TOBRFV (with distribution map),
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00705-015-2677-7 (Jordan),
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0170429 (Israel),
https://www.ndrs.org.uk/article.php?id=041020 (in capsicum), and via
https://www.semanticscholar.org/topic/Tomato-brown-rugose-fruit-virus/3579397
ToBRFV spread by pollinators:
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0210871
Tomato resistance breeding:
https://www.hortidaily.com/article/9265808/we-can-eradicate-tobrfv-from-the-tomato-industry-with-our-newly-found-resistance/ and
https://www.hortidaily.com/article/9272889/commercial-tomato-variety-with-tobrfv-resistance-to-be-offered-in-early-2021/
ToBRFV seed treatment:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10658-020-02151-1
International spread of tobamoviruses by seeds (review):
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321639141_Seed_Transmission_of_Tobamoviruses_Aspects_of_Global_Disease_Distribution
Virus taxonomy via:
https://talk.ictvonline.org/taxonomy/
- Mod.DHA]