SUSCEPTIBILITY OF BURLEY AND FLUE-CURED TOBACCO TYPES TO TOMATO SPOTTED WILT VIRUS TRANSMITTED BY THRIPS (ORDER: THYSANOPTERA)

Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) is an economically important plant virus, belonging to the family Bunyaviridae and genus Tospovirus, first identified in the United States in the middle to late 1980s and in North Carolina tobacco in 1988. By 1997 TSWV had been identified in nearly every North Carolina county. TSWV incidence has increased since its introduction. Tobacco plants infected with TSWV display a range of symptoms, including wilting and yellowing of leaves, ring spots, necrotic lesions, discoloration of leaf veins, and stunting. The majority of tobacco plants infected with TSWV will eventually die. TSWV is transmitted mechanically by 7 thrips species worldwide. The tobacco thrips, Frankliniella fusca (Hinds) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is the most important vector of TSWV in eastern and central North Carolina, and the western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is a locally important vector in the western piedmont and mountainous region of the state. Previo...