Approval of ToBRFV as an additional characteristic in DUS testing in tomato

Publicationdate: 29 mei 2024

The CPVO recently approved the application for the additional characteristic “Resistance to ToBRFV” for use in the DUS testing in tomato. This is a nice step in the introduction of resistance to the dreaded tomato disease ToBRFV in the market.

The application was submitted jointly by Naktuinbouw and GEVES because several new tomato varieties were morphologically identical and could only be distinguished on resistance to ToBRFV. Resistance to ToBRFV was not yet included in the CPVO protocol and therefore could not yet be used for the DUS testing in tomato varieties.

ToBR-Ag project

In fact, the protocol for testing varieties for resistance to ToBRFV is the first result of the 'ToBR-Ag project'. That is a CPVO project, funded by the CPVO, to develop a resistance test against ToBRFV, among other things.

The test protocol which has now been approved by CPVO was made based on preliminary results of the 'ToBR-Ag project'. In the project the protocol will be further fine-tuned so that companies and Examination Offices such as Naktuinbouw can perform the ToBRFV resistance test in a harmonized way.

Admitting or granting Plant Breeders' Rights

The approval of ToBRFV as an additional characteristic makes it possible to admit or grant breeders' rights to tomato varieties that do not differ morphologically but do differ in their resistance to ToBRFV.

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