High throughput sequencing technologies complemented by growers’ perceptions highlight the impact of tomato virome in diversified vegetable farms and a lack of awareness of emerging virus threats

The number of small-scale diversified vegetable growers in industrialized countries has risen sharply over the last 10 years. The risks associated with plant viruses in these systems have been barely studied in Europe, yet dramatic virus emergence events, such as tomato brown fruit rugose virus (ToBRFV), sometimes occur. We developed a methodology that aimed to understand better the implications related to viruses for tomato production in Belgian’s vegetable farms by comparing growers’ perception and the presence of plant-viral-like symptoms (visual inspection) with non-targeting detection of... Mehr ...