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Date: October 2023
Source: European Plant Protection Organisation (EPPO) Reporting Service 10/2023/221 [summ. Mod.DHA, edited]
https://gd.eppo.int/reporting/article-7703

In Switzerland, tomato fruit blotch virus (ToFBV) was first reported in a tomato (_Solanum lycopersicum_) fruit production site in Ticino region.

In Slovenia, ToFBV was first reported based on high throughput sequencing analysis of the tomato virome.

[For source publications, see links below.]

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ProMED

[_Tomato fruit blotch virus_ (ToFBV, genus _Blunervirus_; new binomial name _Blunervirus solani_) was first identified in 2020 from tomatoes with uneven blotchy ripening and dimpling, growing in open field cultivation in Italy. The complete genome of the virus was sequenced and characterised as quadripartite, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA.

Highest sequence identities were found with _Tea plant necrotic ring blotch virus_ and _Blueberry necrotic ring blotch virus_ of genus _Blunervirus_ (family Kitaviridae). A 2nd isolate from Australia showed more than 96% nucleotide sequence identity with the Italian strain. ToFBV was ratified by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) in 2021 as a 3rd member of this new genus.

ToFBV has currently been recorded in around 10 countries, with more than 10 genomic sequence variants available. Co-infections with other tomato viruses were found in some symptomatic tissues (see links below); inoculation studies to provide clear proof of the symptoms due to ToFBV (Koch`s postulates) are still to be carried out. Research on particles (electron microscopy), epidemiology, and distribution of the new virus is also still needed.

Maps
Europe, overview:
https://mapofeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/europe-political-map.jpg

Pictures
ToFBV symptoms:
https://cdn.nieuweoogst.nu/public/image/960x431/157391.jpg

Links
Source publications:
https://doi.org/10.36253/phyto-14463 and
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-023-01500-6
Information on ToFBV:
https://gd.eppo.int/taxon/TOFBV0
Previous reports and characterisation of ToFBV:
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-020-04760-x and
https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-07-21-1392-PDN
ToFBV taxonomy:
https://ictv.global/taxonomy/taxondetails?taxnode_id=202109259,
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?mode=Info&id=2762435&lvl=3&lin=f and via
https://talk.ictvonline.org/taxonomy/
Description & information for genus _Blunervirus_:
https://viralzone.expasy.org/8021,
https://gd.eppo.int/taxon/1BLUVG,
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.561092 and
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?mode=Info&id=2022856

Website: http://www.isid.org

Published: November 14, 2023