Effect of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) on the Content of some Mineral Elements in the Fruits of some Tomato (Solanum lycopersicom L.) Genotypes

Abstract

Abstract This study was conducted to determine the reaction of 14 tomato (Solanum lycopersicom) genotypes to Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), and the effect of the virus on the fruit content of the genotypes Narcan, 123, and Summer 21. The field experiment was carried out in the western orchards of Samawah, Al-Muthanna Governorate, Iraq. All experiments analyzing mineral elements in tomato fruits were done in laboratories of Ghayat Al-Marefa Company, Babylon. The results of inoculation of the tomato genotypes with TYLCV and testing them by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) showed that all these genotypes were susceptible to the virus with the difference of those genotypes in the time of appearance and severity of disease symptoms. The genotypes Nahrayn and Summer 21 were the most severely infected with TYLCV (96 and 87%, respectively) compared with the other genotypes. It was also found that the virus had a clear effect on the decrease in the fruit genotypes contents of the samples tested (123, Narcan, and Summer 21) of mineral elements of iron and zinc that reached 26.80 and 28.88 mg/L, respectively, and substantially different from their given values, which were 32.94 and 34.73 mg/L, respectively, in unaffected plants. Moreover, results proved that the content of TYLCV-infected fruits decreased significantly (1.26 mmol. L-1) with a significant difference from its normal level in non-infected plants which was 1.8 mmol. L-1. Results also showed that TYLCV had a significant effect in reducing the concentrations of magnesium and phosphorous (0.244 and 0.248%), respectively, in the fruits of tomato genotypes compared with their concentrations in non-infected plants that were 0.348 and 0.383%, respectively.