Update of the situation of tomato mottle mosaic virus in the EPPO region
In 2022 EPPO conducted a pest risk analysis on tomato mottle mosaic virus (Tobamovirus, ToMMV – EPPO Alert List). As it had been detected in a seed bank in historical seed accessions (EPPO RS 2023/095), it was noted that ToMMV is possibly more widespread in the EPPO region than currently known. To address this issue, the EPPO Secretariat recently conducted a survey on the detection of ToMMV in EPPO countries.
In the Czech Republic, seeds infected by ToMMV had already been detected in 2020 (EPPO RS 2020/252). A survey was conducted in 2021 and 2022 in tomato and pepper seeds. Nine seed lots tested positive in 2021 (from China, the Czech Republic and Poland) and 5 in 2022 (from India and the Czech Republic).
In Germany, 128 leaf samples of tomato plants and 8 leaf samples of pepper were tested for ToMMV during the surveillance for tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV). One tomato sample tested positive for ToMMV.
In Slovenia, 60 and 66 tomato and pepper plant samples were tested for ToMMV in 2022 and 2023 respectively. All plant samples were negative. Tomato and pepper seed lots were also tested and one (from China) tested positive.
In the United Kingdom, 87 and 54 tomato plant samples were tested in 2022 and 2023 respectively. All plant samples were negative. Tomato and pepper seed lots were also tested: 163 in 2022 and 162 in 2023, 16 and 5 seed lots tested positive respectively.
Sources
NPPOs of Czech Republic, Germany, Slovenia, United Kingdom
EPPO (2022) EPPO Technical Document No. 1088. Pest risk analysis for Tomato mottle mosaic virus. EPPO, Paris. Available at https://gd.eppo.int/taxon/TOMMV0/documents