First Report of Tomato spotted wilt virus on Tomatoes in Lebanon

During the spring and summer of 2004, an epidemic of Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) (genus Tospovirus, family Bunyaviridae) was observed in an isolated tomato field at an elevation of 1,000 m in Lebanon. Symptoms were characteristic of TSWV (2). Seedlings came from a nursery in the coastal area of Byblos. In the spring of 2005, TSWV-like symptoms (2) appeared on tomato in the same mountainous area, as well as on tomato, pepper, and lettuce crops in the Byblos coastal area. Initial diagnosis using TSWV ImmunoStrip Tests (Agdia, IN) gave positive results on tomato and lettuce samples. When these samples were analyzed using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, a specific band (619 nt) was observed in symptomatic samples but not in healthy controls (1). Amplicons were cloned into the pGEM-T easy vector (Promega, Madison, WI) and three clones were sequenced in both directions (GenBank Accession No. DQ131804). Sequence analysis revealed more than 99% nucleotide identity (GenBank Accession Nos. AY744476, AJ297611, and AJ418781) and 99% amino acid identity and 100% amino acid similarity (GenBank Accession Nos. AAU95409, CAA85356, and CAD11452) to the nucleocapsid protein of several TSWV isolates. To our knowledge, this is the first report of TSWV in Lebanon. To prevent rapid spread, farmers were informed about the disease, its vector, and appropriate preventive control measures. References: (1) S. Adkins and E. N. Rosskopf. Plant Dis. 86:1310, 2002. (2) G. Marchoux et al. Plant Pathol. 40:347, 1991.