Evaluation of processing tomato resistance to tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) and detecting Ty-2 and Ty-3 resistance genes with SCAR-markers

Abstract

Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) is the major yield losing viral disease in both the vegetative and reproductive stages of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) production worldwide. The objective of this study was to evaluate the tomato for resistance to TYLCV and good agronomic traits. In this experiment, yield and yield components of 25 accessions were evaluated in field conditions and compared with one resistant and one susceptible cultivar during the dry season (October 2021-February 2022). The randomized complete block design with three replications and 10 plants of each was designed. The plant was inoculated with TYLCV by whitefly transmission, and the resistance genes (Ty-2 and Ty-3) were examined using two molecular markers. The result showed that three tomato accessions, i.e., KKU-T23157, KKU-T23160, and KKUT23164 were discovered to share the same resistance gene (Ty-2 and Ty-3) as the resistance check cultivar and showed disease responses ranging from resistance (R) to high resistance (HR). Moreover, all three accessions (KKU-T23157, KKU-T23160, and KKU-T23164) showed high yields and yield components, i.e., yield (3.18, 3.74, and 3.38 kg plant-1), fruit weight (137.14, 126.71, and 136.91 g fruit-1), firmness (5.00, 5.00, and 0.49 N), and the flesh thickness (8.53, 8.62, and 5.96 mm), respectively. This information will offer a supportive direction for tomato breeders to develop TYLCV-resistant cultivars.