30-year-old tomato line shows genetic resistance to devastating virus

Researchers found that a tomato line developed 30 years ago is showing good resistance to the emerging tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV), a virus that has the potential to cause billions of dollars in damage to the tomato industry in the United States and worldwide. 

ToBRFV infects tomato, pepper, and similar crops by distorting leaves and discoloring fruit, resulting in yield loss. The virus is seed-borne and overcomes the resistance genes in current commercial cultivars. It can easily spread when healthy plants come in contact with contaminated equipment, hands, clothing, or infected plants or plant parts.

“To minimize the impact of ToBRFV, it is crucial to identify new sources of genetic resistance that can be used to breed virus-resistant tomato cultivars,” said Kai Ling, an ARS research plant pathologist at the U.S. Vegetable Laboratory in Charleston, SC.

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According to a recent study published in Plant Biotechnology Journal, Ling and his research team found that a tomato line (tomato^NN) expressing the tobacco N gene that was developed in the 1990s shows resistance to ToBRFV.

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