First Report of <i>Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus</i> Infecting Tomato in Bangladesh

Tomato is an important cash crop for resource-poor farmers and accounts for 20% of the 2 million t of vegetables grown annually in Bangladesh. Tomato cultivation is affected by Tomato leaf curl virus (ToLCV), which can cause as much as 100% yield loss. Plants exhibiting typical ToLCV disease symptoms of yellowing, severe leaf curling, and stunting were collected at Jessore, Bangladesh during September 2003. The putative virus was transmitted from tomato to tomato by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci. In two separate experiments, 100% transmission was achieved by using 10 viruliferous B. tabaci adults for each of the 20 test plants that was confirmed by comparing the symptoms on test and virus source plants. Total DNAs were extracted from the symptomatic…