In recent decades, diseases caused by emerging viruses have become increasingly important in terms of their economic impact. Currently, the most economically important emerging virus is the tobamovirus tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV), which poses a threat to tomato production and, to a lesser extent, pepper production. These crops can also be infected by another tobamovirus, tomato mottle mosaic virus (ToMMV), which was first described in Mexico in 2013 (Li et al., 2013) and is since then reported in several other countries (EPPO, 2024). The symptoms caused by ToMMV can be severe, but vary depending on factors such as host cultivar and environmental conditions. The biological characteristics of tobamoviruses allow them to spread rapidly and give them a high epidemic potential, which can consequently have a significant impact on agriculture.
A crucial step in successfully controlling tobamoviruses and preventing further spread is the accurate and timely detection of the virus. Molecular tests for the detection and identification of ToBRFV have been validated as part of the EU VALITEST project and the Euphresco 2019-A-327 project. There is also a great need for harmonized and validated protocols for ToMMV. There are several published tests for the detection and identification of ToMMV. The aim of this Euphresco project was to conduct a test performance study (TPS) to compare the performance of different molecular tests that can be used for the detection and identification of ToMMV. The results of the TPS provide insight into how these tests perform in different laboratories, i.e. on different equipment, with different reagents and with different operators. They also allow a better evaluation of the accuracy and reproducibility of the tests.
This document represents report of the test performance study on detection and identification of tomato mottle mosaic virus (ToMMV) using molecular tests which was organized by the National Institute of Biology, Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology in the framework of the Euphresco project 2022-A-394 (Validation of molecular diagnostic methods for the detection and identification of tomato mottle mosaic virus (ToMMV-detect)).