Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus Disease: Management, Molecular Biology, Breeding for Resistance

This book offers a multidisciplinary view on one of the major diseases of tomato crops, the tomato yellow leaf curl disease. It deals with epidemiological aspects of the disease as well as integrated pest management in the field. Coverage discusses the efforts aimed at breeding tomato plants resistant to the virus by classical breeding, by marker-assisted breeding and by genetic engineering. The book summarizes the techniques used for diagnosis, eradication and certification. It also emphasizes the problems inherent to the control of the virus insect vector, the use of pesticides and the resistance acquired by the insects, the appearance of new whitefly biotypes with previously unknown characteristics, and the complicated relationships between virus, vector and plant host.