After years of dedicated worldwide research, the tomato breeding team of Enza Zaden has found the solution for its growers to beat the devastating Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus, ToBRFV. The vegetable breeding company is the first globally with full resistance to this worldwide rapidly spreading virus. A major breakthrough!
Kees Konst: “We know there is a lot at stake for our customers. As a company, we worked very hard to find a solution against ToBRFV. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. But we did it; we found it. We tested it also in the Middle East, where the virus started and is a big problem. And it turned out to be complete resistance there in our trials.”
“Now we discovered the answer, our breeders work very hard to develop a high-level resistance ToBRFV varieties very soon. We expect that to have that ready in the coming years.” says Martijn van Stee.
Since it was first discovered in Israel in 2014, ToBRFV has spread to parts of Europe, America, Asia, and Africa. The march continues through its easy spread via mechanical transmission.
When ToBRFV infects a greenhouse or field, it can take two to three weeks before symptoms start to show – yellow spots, wrinkled patches, and brown scars that render the crop unsellable. The consequences for the infected grower are terrible. Next to the loss of a complete season, the growers will also face very high costs to thoroughly disinfect the greenhouses or tunnels.
Kees Konst: “When your greenhouse gets infected, you have to clean your whole greenhouse. The soil, the structure, everything. That’s tough to do.”
Martijn van Stee: “Some years ago, we received a message from our Middle East colleagues about this problem. That they found a disease in the Middle East. They were quite good at telling us how big of a problem this disease is. At that moment, we dropped everything, and our researchers were able within a year to find a resistant source against ToBRFV. Soon after, our breeders started to introduce it in their parent lines to make resistant hybrids for the market.”
What’s the difference between IR and HR levels in resistance?
With an Intermediate Resistance (IR) level, the virus propagation is delayed but can still enter tomato plants. Plants that will eventually show symptoms.
The resistance gene identified by Enza Zaden provides rapid recognition of ToBRFV by the plant. In all our experiments, the plants remained virus-free. This is a breakthrough innovation. All resistant varieties developed by Enza Zaden will qualify as Highly Resistant (HR). With these varieties, we expect not only symptomless crops but also crops free from the ToBRFV virus.