Response of tomato cultivars to agroinfection with Beet curly top Iran virus

Beet curly top Iran virus (BCTIV) is a member of the genus Becurtovirus (family Geminiviridae) which constrain host crop production in various geographical regions in Iran. This virus infects several crops such as sugar beet Beta vulgaris and tomato Solanum lycopersicum. BCTIV infected tomato shows leaf curling, leaf distortion and stunting. In this study, we investigated the response of various tomato cultivars to BCTIV infection using an infectious clone of BCTIV under glasshouse condition at the University of Zanjan in 2013-2014. Based on a completely randomized design experiment twelve tomato cultivars were tested for their reaction to BCTIV infection. The replication of virus and symptom production was recorded and analyzed. Based on the obtained coefficient of infection and disease severity index, none of the tested cultivars was found resistance to the virus infection. However, one of the tested cultivars, Super Chief, showed no leaf curling symptom and the virus replicated at a significantly lower level in this cultivar as compared to a susceptible cultivar, Alindi 811, using quantitative PCR. Tomato cultivars including Grosse Lisse and Early Eurbana were grouped as susceptible while the other cultivars including Super Star were moderately susceptible to the virus infection. Therefore, growing this cultivar shows promise for an increase of yields from tomato plants prone to BCTIV infection after complementary field experiments. The screening of more cultivars or wild-type tomatoes for the identification of gene/s providing resistance to this viral disease is suggested.