LAUSR

In January and February 2017, symptoms of yellowing and leaf curling were observed in open field Roma-type tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants in seven states (Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebby, Jigawa, Sokoto and Zamfara) of northern Nigeria. Almost 100% of the plants in the surveyed fields showed symptoms and were also heavily infested with the whitefly (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) Bemisia tabaci. Symptoms resembled those caused by tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV), an emergent whitefly-transmitted virus found in many tropical, subtropical and temperate countries worldwide. Leaf samples were collected from twenty one symptomatic plants, each from a different local government area, three per state (Giwa, Sabon Gari and Zaria, KD; Bunkure, Garun Mallam and Kura, KN; Funtua, Danja and Bakori, KT; Birnin Kebbi, Jega and Zuru, KE; Auyo, Kafin Hausa and Hadejia, JI; Tambuwal, Shagari and Wamako, SO; and Bakura, Talata Mafara and Gusau, ZA). Total RNA was extracted with TRIzol Reagent (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA) from ...