Detection of the tomato virus ToBRFV: GEVES only authorised laboratory in France
The BioGEVES and Pathology laboratories prepared for the new quarantine regulations introduced for this emerging tomato pathogen: trials were carried out to develop and validate new additions to the GEVES catalogue for ToBRFV detection on seed. Several methods were validated, including detection of infectious virus by bioassay, and detection by ELISA and by RT-qPCR on seed extracts as developed and validated within ISHI-Veg. The validation tests confirmed the analytical sensitivity of the method which can detect 1 in 1000 infected seeds. The disease resistance team also worked on tomato plants and were able to confirm the ability of ToBRFV to break the Tm22 resistance gene. Following this validation, and in collaboration with ANSES-LSV, the GEVES was named by the French Ministry of Agriculture, as an authorised laboratory for official testing for ToBRFV by RT-qPCR on tomato and pepper seed. An essential testing service, respecting all social distancing guidelines, has been set up in order to provide the test results needed for official documents needed to keep seed moving (Plant Passports and Phytosanitary Certificates).
