Pepino Mosaic Virus (Alphaflexiviridae)

Abstract

Pepino mosaic virus is an example of a plant virus that has caused significant agronomical problems in a relatively short period of time. It is a member of the genus Potexvirus within the Family Alphaflexiviridae and is readily mechanically transmissible. It is capable of infecting tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and other solaneceous host plants. Since its first description (1980) from pepino plants (Solanum muricatum) collected in 1974 in Peru, the virus remained insignificant for a long time until it manifested itself in commercial tomato crops in Europe in 1999. Since then the virus spread quickly worldwide and has become an important virus disease in commercial tomato production. Since 1999 new strains of the virus have been described which differ from the original pepino isolate. These new strains played an important role in the increase of the agricultural importance of this virus disease. No resistance is available in commercial tomato cultivars although cross-protection strategies are applied to dampen the negative impact of aggressive virus isolates. Virus-free seed and planting material, proper hygiene, and adequate monitoring are required to control of the virus