Tomato chlorosis virus and Tomato yellow leaf curl virus CAUSING MIXED INFECTION IN PROTECTED EGGPLANT (Solanum melongena) CROPS IN TURKEY

Abstract

Eggplant (Solanum melongena) is an important source of food for people. Eggplant cultivations, located in the Mediterranean region province of Antalya, corresponds to 20% of the total eggplant production in Turkey. In Antalya province, yellowing type symptoms were observed in eggplant areas and it was found that these symptoms were not caused by fungal or bacterial cause. The yellowing symptoms characteristic for Solanaceae family, such as tomato and pepper, are also observed in the same family of eggplant. Total nucleic acids were obtained from infected eggplants were tested by RT-PCR/PCR with specific primers of TYLCV (Tomato yellow leaf curl virus) and ToCV (Tomato chlorosis virus). Their PCR amplicons were directly sequenced, and phylogenetic analyses were performed. Additionally, TYLCV infected plants were determined in the strain level. This study is the first record of Tomato chlorosis virus and Tomato yellow leaf curl virus causing infection in eggplant in Antalya province and characterized by yellowing type symptom in infected plant.