Chickpea chlorotic dwarf virus infecting tomato crop in Tunisia

Chickpea chlorotic dwarf virus (CpCDV) a polyphagous mastrevirus, family Geminiviridae , is reported to infect several economically important hosts, among which tomato, in numerous world areas. NGS studies have recently linked the “hard fruit syndrome” of watermelon to CpCDV infection. In this study, we surveyed for CpCDV infection tomato fields in several Tunisian areas and we report this virus for the first time in tomato in this Mediterranean country. We detected CpCDV by PCR with specific primers and obtained a full-length sequence of a tomato-derived isolate, resulting identical to the Tunisian watermelon-derived isolate, and classifiable as CpCDV strain A. Following tomato agro-inoculation of the CpCDV infectious clone under controlled conditions, we checked infection by stem squash, dot blotting and PCR, and demonstrated the ability of CpCDV to replicate in tomato tissues. The alterations observed in fruits of CpCDV-infected tomatoes were similar to those previously described for watermelon, providing hints about the perturbation of fruit development mediated by this virus.