CMV and ToMV

CMV and ToMV

News: Tomato growers in Maharashtra and Karnataka have reported crop losses due to attacks by two different viruses - The cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) in Maharashtra and the tomato mosaic virus (ToMV) in Karnataka.

About:
• CMV and ToMV are two plant pathogenic viruses that can infect a wide range of crops, especially tomatoes and cucurbits (such as cucumbers, melons, squash, etc.).
• They belong to different viral families, but cause similar symptoms in plants, such as leaf mosaic or mottling, yellowing, ringspots, stunting, and distortion of leaves, flowers and fruits.
• CMV is spread by aphids, which are sap-sucking insects that transmit the virus from plant to plant. CMV can also be spread by human touch, infected seeds, saplings, tools, or parasitic weeds such as dodder.
• ToMV is mainly spread by infected seeds, saplings, tools, or human touch. It can also be transmitted by some aphid species, but less efficiently than CMV.
• These viruses can cause significant losses in yield and quality of the affected crops