On the 1st of April, VIRTIGATION partners APREL and INRAE organised the project’s third lunchtime webinar on the topic of emerging viruses.
Latest results from VIRTIGATION project
The third VIRTIGATION lunchtime webinar brought together more than 111 stakeholders, nearly doubling the attendance from the second lunchtime webinar of the project. The audience included mainly French stakeholders of the VIRTIGATION network. It included seed companies, crop protection actors, growers, technical advisors, journalists, laboratories, plant scientists, as well as official plant protection services.
The aim of this online event was to inform French plant health stakeholders about the most damaging viruses in tomatoes (ToBRFV) and cucurbits (ToLCNDV). After a brief introduction by Claire Goillon (APREL) outlining the main objectives of the VIRTIGATION project, two plant virologists from INRAE (Plant Pathology Unit, Avignon) gave presentations outlining the latest VIRTIGATION results on these emerging viruses, triggering lots of questions from the audience in a lively Q&A session.
ToBRFV and emerging viruses in tomatoes
After a reminder on the new European regulations applying to ToBRFV and the sanitary situation in France, Eric Verdin from INRAE highlighted VIRTIGATION developments to facilitate diagnosis and to understand ToBRFV dissemination routes (e.g. Genome detective, Luminex xTAG). Verdin also presented project improvements achieved in seed disinfection protocols, studies on the reservoir role of alternative hosts (in particular nightshade) and the consequences of mixed infections (ToBRFV and PepMV). Finallly he reported the main advances made by the VIRTIGATION partners on cross-protection, the development of an infectious ToBRFV clone, studies on genetic resistance and the evaluation of substrate disinfection methods (e.g. steaming, solarization).
Moreover, Eric Verdin presented the main biological characteristics of the tomato fruit blotch virus (ToFBV), a virus that emerged in several French regions in 2024. He covered thereby the associated symptoms, transmission, host plants, diagnosis and control methods for ToFBV.
ToLCNDV and emerging viruses in cucurbits
Cecile Desbiez from INRAE then presented the project’s work performed on ToLCNDV and other cucurbit-infecting viruses. The results obtained by VIRTIGATION partners concerned ToLCNDV transmission, host range, and control of the virus and its whitefly vectors. INRAE studied in particular the situation of ToLCNDV in France, where plant health authorities first detected the virus in 2020. This included the search for local natural reservoirs, characterization of ToLCNDV biological and molecular variability, effect of mixed infection with common indigenous viruses on ToLCNDV accumulation and symptom severity, and study of the determinants and durability of resistance in melon.
Cécile Desbiez concluded her presentation by stating that aphid-transmitted viruses remain the most common ones in cucurbits in France, but that Moroccan watermelon mosaic virus (MWMV), that had been responsible for important damages in cucurbit crops in 2022, did not emerge durably in 2023 and 2024.
More on the topic of emerging viruses in tomatoes and cucurbits:
- Recording of the VIRTIGATION lunchtime webinar (in French) on YouTube
- Presentations by Cécile Desbiez and Eric Verdin from VIRTIGATION partner INRAE
