First report of Tomato chlorosis virus infecting tomato in Kenya

Abstract

This study investigated Tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV) present in plants collected in September 2017, in Kenya. We collected tomato leaves that exhibited severe interveinal yellowing symptoms and used reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to confirm that 15 of the 36 samples were infected with ToCV. One sample collected in Kiambu County was used for molecular analyses. Partial sequences of the genome of RNA1 (including RNA-dependent RNA polymerase gene) and RNA2 (includes coat protein, minor coat protein, and heat shock protein 70 homolog genes) were amplified using specific primers. Nucleotide sequences of these segments showed the highest similarity with segments from all ToCV isolates other than the Taiwan isolate. Genetic and molecular phylogenetic analyses showed similar results. This is the first report of ToCV in Kenya. Keywords: Tomato, One-step RT-PCR, ToCV