Identification of putative thrips vectors of tospovirus on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) employing ITS and mtCOI

Tospoviruses (Bunyavirales) which are exclusively transmitted by thrips cause server yield loss on vegetables. In this regard, out of 6000 species of thrips, only 16 species have been reported to be the vectors of different tospovirues worldwide. In this regard, a member of the tospovirus called groundnut bud necrosis virus (GBNV) is known to infect groundnut has become one of the production constraint on tomato in India since for few years. In this regard there is no definitive information available on the species of thrips involved in transmission of GBNV to tomato in India. Therefore, a survey was carried out to determine different species of thrips available in the tomato ecosystem at the ICAR - IIHR experimental farm, Bengaluru during 2019. Species diagnosis of the thrips specimens was carried out using ITS2 and mtCOI markers. Results revealed the prevalence of four thrips species viz., Thrips palmi, Scirtothrips dorsalis, Frankliniella occidentalis and T. hawaiiensis of which T. palmi was predominant.