Host Plant Resistance to Tomato spotted wilt virus (Bunyaviridae: Tospovirus) in Tomato

Commercially available cultivars of tomato Solanum lycopersicum L. were field-tested for resistance to Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) over a 5-year period (from 2006 to 2010) at the Coastal Plain Experiment Station at Tifton, GA. Selected cultivars were transplanted each year into staked, black plastic mulch beds on drip irrigation in the spring of each year when the incidence of Tomato spotted wilt (TSW) tended to be highest. The presence of TSWV was confirmed by double antibody sandwich (DAS) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Also, the presence of thrips vectors was monitored using beat-cup sampling of foliage and flower samples. Tomato cultivars with the Sw-5 resistance gene provided high levels of control of TSW expression over all 5 years. However, these genotypes had no apparent effect on the thrips vectors, western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), and tobacco thrips, Frankliniella fusca (Hinds), that transmit TSWV. Overall, the top 15 commercial tomato cultivars based on consistent TSW resistance and ranked from highest marketable fruit yield were: ‘Tycoon’, ‘Tous 91’, ‘Talladega’, ‘Red Defender’, ‘BHN 444’, ‘Nico’, ‘Carson’, ‘BHN 685 (Roma type)’, ‘Picus’, ‘Redline’, ‘Tribute’, ‘Quincy’, ‘BHN 640’, ‘BHN 602’, and ‘Top Gun’.