Syngenta to introduce ToBRFV resistant tomato variety

The Netherlands-based Syngenta Vegetable Seeds is introducing its first commercial Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) resistant variety, which the company said will be available in early 2021.

The new variety will be released in areas where growers face severe disease pressure from the virus and will support against crop losses, according to a news release.

“The Syngenta Vegetables research and development team is ahead of the curve with the launch of the first commercial ToBRFV resistant variety,” Ruud Kaagman, head for tomatoes of the company’s Global Crop Unit, said in the release. “Following this launch, we will aim to introduce varieties with resistance to ToBRFV across our breeding programs and across the globe. Broad resistance will be built in the portfolio during the next several years.”

ToBRFV is a newly discovered tobamovirus related to Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and Tomato mosaic virus (ToMV), according to the release, and is a very infectious virus that infects both tomatoes and peppers.

The release said tobamoviruses are mechanically transmitted (contact disease) within and between crops by people and equipment.
Symptoms caused by ToBRFV in tomato, according to the release, are similar to those caused by other tobamoviruses in susceptible plants: mosaic pattern on leaves, narrowing of leaves, necrosis on pedicle, calyces or petioles and/or yellow spots on the fruits. This impacts the quality and yield for growers significantly.

Different levels of resistance to ToBRFV exist in Syngenta’s current germplasm, but the release said the research and development staff with Syngenta discovered and targeted the specific genes related to the resistance.

“With fast development and use of molecular markers, Syngenta is able to rapidly make use of this resistance, deploying it in a large range of varieties; spreading the resistance in our germplasm,” Pilar Checa, global breeding lead for tomatoes, said in the release. “Before the utilization of molecular markers, it could take up to 10 years to develop a resistant variety. With broad use of molecular technology, Syngenta can more accurately and quickly breed a resistant variety.”