Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) of the genus Tospovirus, family Bunyaviridae (1), causes an economically important virus disease in tomato in several parts of the world. The virus has a wide host range that includes numerous crops and weeds and is transmitted by at least seven species of thrips. Tomato crops in the Subukia, Bahati, and Kabazi areas of the Nakuru District in Kenya were affected by a disease suggestive of TSWV infection during the November 1999 to March 2000 tomato-growing season. Farmers reported up to 80% losses of their potential yields. Characteristic symptoms were noticed on fruits, especially when they were green. Distinct concentric rings on fruits, which later turned into brown, uneven ripening, were the most visible symptoms. Foliage did not develop pronounced symptoms, but mild bronzing was observed in a few cultivars. However, foliage senesced prematurely, starting with older leaves. Foliar symptoms were mistaken for blight infection, and as a result, excessive fungicides were applied that failed to manage the disease. To test for TSWV infection, tomato leaf samples collected from the fields were tested initially with a TSWV test kit (HortiTech, Horticulture Research International, Wellesbourne, UK), and the results were confirmed by double-antibody sandwich-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with antibodies from Agdia Inc. (Elkhart, IN). Further molecular characterization was done using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Total RNA was extracted from symptomatic leaves of tomato cv. Money Maker using the RNeasy mini kit (Qiagen Inc., Valencia, CA). Using primers 5′ TTAAGC AAGTTCTGTGAG 3′ and 5′ ATGTCTAAGGTTAAGCTC 3′ specific to the nucleoprotein (N) gene of TSWV, the N gene was amplified by RT-PCR (2). A 777-bp product of the expected size was obtained from symptomatic plants, whereas no amplification was obtained from noninfected tomato. The PCR product was cloned into pGEM-T Easy (Promega, Madison, WI) and sequenced. A search of GenBank revealed a sequence identity of 95 to 99% with the N genes of known TSWV isolates. To our knowledge, this is the first report TSWV infection of tomato in Kenya. Considering its wide host range, future surveys should be directed toward estimating its incidence in tomato and other TSWV-susceptible crops, such as Irish potatoes, pepper, peanut (groundnut), beans, and a wide variety of ornamental cut flowers in Kenya.
References: (1) J. W. Moyer. Tospoviruses (Bunyaviridae). Pages 1803--1807 in: Encyclopedia of Virology. A. Granoff and R. G. Webster, eds. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 1999. (2) Jain et al. Plant Dis. 82:900, 1998.
