How to Manage Pests
UC Pest Management Guidelines
Peppers
Pepper Tobamovirus Diseases
Pathogens: Various tobamoviruses
(Reviewed 8/07,
updated 6/08)
In this Guideline:
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Symptoms on plants infected with Tobacco mosaic tobamoviruses vary among
cultivars and with specific viruses or strains. Symptoms can include necrosis
on any plant part, defoliation, and/or mosaic symptoms on leaves, stems, and
fruit.
An important source of primary inoculum is contaminated seed. The
virus is carried on the seed coat, and thus can be removed from contaminated
seeds by washing seed with dilute solutions of tri-sodium phosphate. The
tobamoviruses on pepper are readily spread mechanically within the field by
handling and mechanical damage to plants, but not by insect, nematode or fungal
vectors.
The tobamoviruses are
very stable viruses. They can survive in plant debris for many years.
The best control is to use seed that has been treated to eliminate
the seedborne inoculum. Minimizing plant handling and damage also is important
for reducing field spread of tobacco mosaic virus. Good sources of plant
resistance genes (L1-L4 genes) to various tobamoviruses also exist and are
present in commercially available cultivars. No chemical strategies are
effective.
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UC IPM Pest Management Guidelines: Peppers
UC ANR Publication 3460
Diseases
S. T. Koike, UC Cooperative Extension, Monterey County
R. M. Davis, Plant Pathology, UC Davis
K. V. Subbarao, USDA Research Station, Salinas
Acknowledgment for contributions to Diseases:
B. W. Falk, Plant Pathology, UC Davis
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