Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus  Spotted wilt of tomato was first described in 1915 in Australia  Today it is one of the 10 most economically destructive plant viruses  Worldwide losses exceed one billion dollars annually  Host Plants  800+ known host species (80+ plant families)  Both monocots and dicots, includes horticultural and agronomic crops  Found in temperate, subtropical and tropical regions of the world

Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (cont.)  Vectored and spread by thrips  Tobacco thrips (Frankliniella fusca)  Western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis)  Lifecycle (20-30 days from egg to adult)

TSWV in Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.)  Spotted wilt caused by TSWV in peanut  First observed in 1971  Became one of the most serious diseases in 1980s  In Georgia, spot wilt lead to a 7.5% reduction in crop value that equals $31.7 million in losses (2005)

Management of TSWV in Peanut  Single measure: control of the thrips vectors  Integrated management  Make use of highly resistant cultivars  Chemical practices  Cultural practices  One of the most important factors  Deployment of resistant cultivars

Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (cont.)  Family: Bunyaviridae Genus: Tospovirus  Virions  nm  Pleomorphic particles  Single-stranded RNA

Detection Tools  1. Traditional Detection Techniques  2. Nucleic Acid-Based Detection Methods Gene-specific PCR, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), RT-PCR, etc.