Tomato viruses Solanum lycopersicum L in Cape Verde

Symptoms attributed to Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus (TYLCV) and Tomato Mosaic Virus (ToMV) are frequently reported on solanaceous plants in Cape Verde and are associated with damage to crops, especially tomatoes.In order to confirm the presence of TYLCV and ToMV in solanaceous plants in Cape Verde, 16 samples of plants of the species Solanum lycopersicum, S. melanogena, Capsicum annum and C. frutescens with virus symptoms were evaluated using the DAS-ELISA test. The presence of TYLCV and ToMV was also determined in six batches of seeds of three tomato cultivars, "Calor", "CV01" and "Produtor", produced in the country in 2008 and 2009 and in plants from these seeds. TYLCV was found in 10 of the solanaceous samples studied, while ToMV was recorded in one sample of S. lycopersicum. TYLCV was detected in the seeds of the three cultivars studied and ToMV in the seeds of cv. CV01. The average incidence of viruses recorded in the field trials was 0.8% in cv. CV01, 44.5% in cv. Produtor and 51.5% in cv. Calor. "Tomatinho", a spontaneous variety and S. melanogena plants that are kept in the fields, are important reservoirs of the TYLCV virus.