RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) is the most known virus in the plant mosaic virus family and is able to infect a wide range of crops, in particular, tobacco, causing a production loss. OBJECTIVES: Herein, and for the first time in Lebanon, we investigated the presence of TMV infection in crops by analyzing 88 samples of tobacco, tomato, cucumber and pepper collected from different regions in North Lebanon. METHODS: Double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DAS-ELISA), revealed a potential TMV infection of four tobacco samples out of 88 crop samples collected. However, no tomato, cucumber and pepper samples were infected. The TMV+ tobacco samples were then extensively analyzed by RT-PCR to detect viral RNA using different primers covering all the viral genome. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: PCR results confirmed those of DAS-ELISA showing TMV infection of four tobacco samples collected from three crop fields of North Lebanon. In only one of four TMV+ samples, we were able to amplify almost all the regions of viral genome, suggesting possible mutations in the virus genome or an infection with a new, not yet identified, TMV strain. CONCLUSION: Our study is the first in Lebanon, revealing TMV infection in crop fields and highlighting the danger that may affect the future of agriculture.