| Sumario: | Previously unknown viral diseases have been observed in past months in different regions of the Cauca Valley, Colombia, affecting snap bean and tomato plantings. The affected snap bean plants show severe leaf malformation (crumpling) and mild variegation. The diseased tomato plants show moderate degrees of mosaic and leaf malformation. Some tomato samples were obtained in Fusagasuga, Cundinamarca, central Colombia. These samples showed foliar yellowing and moderate leaf malformation. Serological tests and PCR amplification of viral nucleic acids using begomovirus-specific primers, revealed the presence of two new begomovirus species in snap bean (Bean leaf crumple virus) and tomato (Tomato mild mosaic virus). The tomato samples from central Colombia contained a known begomovirus species (Tomato yellow mosaic virus) originally described from Venezuela; and some samples also contained aphid-borne potyviruses. The unexpected outbreak of these whitefly-borne begomoviruses is discussed here with a view to adopting effective virus control measures.
|
|---|