Abstract:
Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), transmitted by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci, is the major limiting factor for production of tomato in Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia and was recently reported in other regions. In screening tests for virus resistance, in addition to yield three major parameters are considered: severity of symptoms, ratio of infected plants and virus titer. Tissue-blot immunoassay using heterologous monoclonal antibodies produced to African cassava mosaic virus proved to be a simple, cost effective, rapid and sensitive method to detect the virus and to assess the relative virus concentration. It was equally sensitive to nucleic acid hybridization the most commonly used method for this purpose. It allowed the detection of TYLCV, 6-8 days after inoculation of a susceptible cultivar and results can be obtained in less than 4 hours. Therefore, it could be recommended for rapid evaluation of relative virus concentration in screening tests for resistance to TYLCV or other related geminiviruses.