An efficient in vitro-inoculation method for Tomato yellow leaf curl virus.
BACKGROUND
Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) is a member of the family Geminiviridae, genus Begomovirus. To test the infectivity of TYLCV in tomato plants, an improved protocol for inoculation of in vitro-cultured tomato plants was developed.


RESULTS
A TYLCV isolate was cloned, sequenced and used to construct a 1.8-mer infectious clone. Three weeks old microshoots of TYLCV-susceptible tomato plants were inoculated with Agrobacterium tumefaciens harboring the infectious clone for the TYLCV isolate. After two weeks, the TYLCV symptoms started to appear on the in vitro-inoculated plants and the symptoms became more severe and pronounced eight weeks post-inoculation. The method was used efficiently to uncover the resistance mechanism against TYLCV in Solanum habrochaites accession LA 1777, a wild tomato known for its high resistance to whitefly and TYLCV.


CONCLUSIONS
The reported in vitro-inoculation method can be used to screen tomato genotypes for their responses to TYLCV under controlled conditions and it will be a useful tool for better understanding of the TYLCV biology in tomato plants.
Al Abdallat
Ayed M
AM
Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan. a.alabdallat@ju.edu.jo
Al Debei
Hmoud S
HS
Asmar
Heba
H
Misbeh
Samar
S
Quraan
Ayat
A
Kvarnheden
Anders
A
D016960:Agrobacterium tumefaciens / Q000235:genetics; D053839:Begomovirus / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000821:virology*; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000821:virology; D032322:Solanum / Q000821:virology; D014161:Transduction, Genetic / Q000379:methods*