Tomato chlorosis virus: purification, antiserum production and yield loss on potato plants
Armando Bergamin Filho: University of São Paulo - ESALQ
<div><em>Tomato chlorosis virus</em> (ToCV) is a species of the genus <em>Crinivirus</em>, which is transmitted by <em>Bemisia tabaci</em> MEAM1 in a semi persistent manner. Considering the patosystem potato/ToCV, there is a lack of information on occurrence, symptomatology in different varieties, and damages caused by this crinivirus. In addition, there is no polyclonal antiserum for the Brazilian isolate of ToCV for use in diagnosis. The objectives of the present work were: to purify the virus and produce a polyclonal antiserum; and to evaluate the yield loss caused by this crinivirus on two potato cultivars. The virus purification was conducted using ToCV-infected tomato leaves. Purified virus was injected in a rabbit for antiserum production. Plants of cultivars Ágata and Asterix were inoculated with ToCV, by viruliferous vectors. Ninety days after inoculation plant development biomass was evaluated based on the fresh mass weight of the aerial part and weight of harvested tubers. The production of polyclonal antiserum in rabbit was satisfactorily accomplished. However, it was only efficient for ToCV detection in dot-blot assays, when diluted 1:20. For two independent experiments, average reductions in aerial fresh weight of the plants were 60.1% for Ágata and 46% for Asterix. Reductions in the yield of tubers from infected plants of the Ágata and Asterix, for the first experiment, were 99.5% and 98.1%, respectively. For the second experiment, the values were 82.3% and 56.2%, respectively.</div>
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