Indagini epidemiologiche sul virus dell'accartocciamento fogliare giallo del pomodoro (TYLCV) in Italia.

In 1992 we started to study the epidemiology of TYLCV in Sardinia and the distribution of its vector, the whitefly Bemisia tabaci, in Italy. Field surveys were conducted to check both wild and coltivated plants for the presence of both the vector and the virus. B. tabaci was fond on 9 wild and 6 cultivated species, besides tomato. None of the wild species was found naturally infected by TYLCV, but Solanum nigrum could be infected experimentally developing clear leaf cnrl symptoms. The distribution of B. tabaci was studied both by direct surveys and questionnaires; until now, in open fields and in greenhouses, B. tabaci has also been fomd in Liguria, besides Sardinia, Sicily and Campania. In Lombardy, Emilia Romagna and Tnscany the whitefly seems to be limited to green-houses.