The Middle East is a major producer of both processing and fresh market tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum); and tomatoes are a main component of the local cuisines. Since Tomato yellow leaf curl disease was first reported in Israel in the early 1950s, it has become one of the major, if not the most important, constraint to production (see historical perspective in Part I, Chapter 1). This disease ...

The V2 protein of tomato yellow leaf curl geminivirus (TYLCV) functions as an RNA-silencing suppressor that counteracts the innate immune response of the host plant. The host-cell target of V2, however, remains unknown. Here we show that V2 interacts directly with SlSGS3, the tomato homolog of the Arabidopsis SGS3 protein (AtSGS3), which is known to be involved in the RNA-silencing pathway. SlS...

Biological and molecular properties of Tomato leaf curl Madagascar virus isolates from Morondova and Toliary (ToLCMGV-[Tol], -[Mor]), Tomato leaf curl Mayotte virus isolates from Dembeni and Kahani (ToLCYTV-[Dem], -[Kah]) and a Tomato yellow leaf curl virus isolate from Reunion (TYLCV-Mld[RE]) were determined. Full-length DNA components of the five isolates from Madagascar, Mayotte and Reunion ...