Page 10 - Volume 2,Issue 2, July 2009

© Benaki Phytopathological Institute
Van der Vlugt 54
ferent symptoms is a property of the isolate
rather than of the strain. Mixed infections
with different strains of PepMV are relatively
common, especially with the EU-tomato and
Ch2 strains. Synergism resulting from mixed
infections of the EU-tomato and Ch2 strains
has been reported (Hanssen et al., 2009), but
this is not very common. The precise effects
of the mixed infections on the symptoma-
tology of the disease caused by PepMV are
unknown. In addition it should be noted
that it is not always clear what the possible
contribution of other plant pathogens in the
expression of symptoms may be.
PepMV is a mechanically transmitted vi-
rus. The most important transmission routes
are through contaminated tools, clothes
and surfaces. The virus is relatively stable
at room temperature and can survive and
stay infectious for several weeks in plant
debris and on contaminated surfaces. Fruit
from infected plants may contain high con-
centrations of the virus even if they do not
show symptoms. Long distance transmis-
sion of the virus with fruit is highly likely and
much more likely than transmission through
infected seeds. Insects may also play a role
in spreading the virus within and between
crops. Bumble bees, often used as pollina-
tors in glasshouses, were shown to trans-
mit the virus (Shipp et al., 2008). Implemen-
tation of strict hygiene protocols during the
growing season and thorough cleaning of
greenhouses at the end of the growing sea-
son have shown to effectively control the in-
troduction and spread of the virus.
Effective control of the virus in commer-
cial tomato crops should be based on the
use of virus-free seeds and planting mate-
rial, strict hygiene measures and a constant
monitoring of possible infections.
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