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Cultural Control of the Whitefly/Geminiviruses Complex in Tomato - Page 2
Here we see tomato plants infected with TYLCV that showed symptoms at 33, 44, 47 and 63 days after transplanting, compared to an uninfected plant on the left. The difference in plant size and number of fruit is obvious. The earlier the plant is infected, the greater the impact. The graph shows the mathematical relationship between time of first symptom appearance and reduction in total yield and number of extra large fruit compared to uninfected plants. Plants showing symptoms of TYLCV at 33 days after transplanting produced less than 10% as many fruit as uninfected plants. At 70 days there was still a 60% loss. Predictive equations are given on the graph. No differences in fruit size could be seen between infected and uninfected plants. That is
because TYLCV affects fruit production through flower abortion. Once the virus has set in, little fruit is set. Therefore, plants must be protected early to avoid serious losses from TYLCV.
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