Abstract
The distribution of the Tomato yellow leaf curl virus complex was investigated in five locations in Jordan. Hybridization results of samples collected in 2002 showed that Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) occurred in all surveyed areas, while the incidence of Tomato yellow leaf curl Sardinia virus (TYLCSV) was restricted to Al-Mafraq and the central Jordan Valley. Both virus species could be detected in all areas surveyed in 2003. Using specific PCR primers, TYLCV, TYLCSV and TYLCV-Mild (TYLCV-Mld) could be detected in symptomatic tomato plants. Alignment analysis of the amplified-PCR fragments showed that the sequence of the intergenic region (IR) of TYLCSV from Jordan (TYLCSV-Jo1) shared high sequence homology with TYLCSV-ES[1] and TYLCSV-ES[2] from Spain. In addition, TYLCV-Jo1 had sequence identity of 95% and 93% with TYLCV-[Alm] and TYLCV-[DO], respectively.