Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) has a wide host range but is of special concern on solanaceous plants. Symptoms include yellow and green mottling, upward curling, necrotic leaf spots, leaf distortion, and overall stunting. Symptoms on plants in this photo are very subtle and could be mistaken for nutrient deficiency such as iron.
TMV is not transmitted by insects, but is transmitted mechanically in sap, by contact with contaminated equipment, by vegetative propagation, and it can be carried in seed. Once a plant is infected with a virus, it cannot be cured.
Management includes: Discarding and destroying infected plants, including roots, disinfecting hands, disinfecting growing areas and all hard surfaces including doorknobs and flats and controlling perennial weeds in the solanaceous family such as ground cherry and horsenettle in and around the greenhouse because they can be reservoirs of TMV. Smokers must take extra precautions to wash their hands as TMV is carried in tobacco.
