Škorić Dijana, Zindović Jelena, Grbin Dorotea, Pul Patrik, Božović Vladan, Margaria Paolo, Mehle Nataša, Pecman Anja, Kogej Zwitter Zala, Kutnjak Denis, Vučurović Ana
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
Department of Plant Protection, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro.
Front Microbiol. 2025 Jul 28;16:1618327. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1618327. eCollection 2025.
Tomato spotted wilt orthotospovirus (TSWV) is a major plant pathogen causing significant economic losses in tomato production worldwide. Understanding its genetic diversity and evolutionary mechanisms is crucial for effective disease management. This study analyzed TSWV isolates from symptomatic tomato plants collected across Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia between 2020 and 2024. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) was employed to obtain whole-genome sequences, followed by phylogenetic analyses to assess genetic variability and relationships among isolates from these three countries and other isolates of worldwide geographic origin. Phylogenetic analyses placed all studied isolates within the L1-M3-S3 genotype, commonly associated with solanaceous crops in Europe. While Croatian and Slovenian isolates exhibited high genetic similarity, Montenegrin isolates clustered in a distinct subgroup, showing closer relationships to Asian and Mediterranean accessions. Despite the severe disease symptoms observed, no substitutions in the NSm protein associated with resistance-breaking (RB) phenotypes were detected. These findings suggest that additional virome components, environmental factors or so far unknown mechanism(s) may contribute to infection and disease severity in tomato and strongly support the need of continuous surveillance of TSWV genetic diversity in order to inform breeding programs and develop sustainable management strategies to mitigate future outbreaks.
番茄斑萎正番茄病毒（TSWV）是一种主要的植物病原体，在全球番茄生产中造成重大经济损失。了解其遗传多样性和进化机制对于有效的病害管理至关重要。本研究分析了2020年至2024年间从克罗地亚、黑山和斯洛文尼亚有症状的番茄植株中分离出的TSWV。采用高通量测序（HTS）获得全基因组序列，随后进行系统发育分析，以评估来自这三个国家的分离株与世界其他地理区域来源的分离株之间的遗传变异性和关系。系统发育分析将所有研究的分离株置于L1-M3-S3基因型内，该基因型通常与欧洲的茄科作物有关。虽然克罗地亚和斯洛文尼亚的分离株表现出高度的遗传相似性，但黑山的分离株聚集在一个独特的亚组中，与亚洲和地中海的分离株关系更密切。尽管观察到严重的病害症状，但未检测到与抗性突破（RB）表型相关的NSm蛋白中的替换。这些发现表明，其他病毒组成分、环境因素或目前未知的机制可能导致番茄感染和病害严重程度增加，并有力支持持续监测TSWV遗传多样性的必要性，以便为育种计划提供信息并制定可持续的管理策略，以减轻未来的疫情爆发。
