The inside story: How Syngenta’s tomatoes beat ToBRFV

Tomato growers walking into a greenhouse are hyper vigilant – with the hope to avoid discovering the signs of the Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus. The devastating virus – shortened to ToBRFV – is hitting tomato production worldwide.  

ToBRFV has destroyed crops in 35 countries - and growing - across Asia, Europe, North America and Africa. The virus spreads fast through contact. It hits greenhouse crops hardest but also damages open field tomatoes. Even strict hygiene measures can’t always stop it. Growers can lose on average up to 30% of produce and, at worst, the entire crop.

Tomatoes are the world’s most popular vegetable. Solutions against this devastating virus are critical to the future of tomato production and for consumers around the world.  

Accelerating Plant Breeding for Resistance

Plant breeders at Syngenta’s research centers have an answer. They’re using advanced genetics and data tools to accelerate plant breeding. That means they can rapidly produce hybrid tomato varieties with resistance to ToBRFV.  

Tomatoes are one of the more than 30 crop types in which Syngenta could use these technologies. The new tools could be used to quickly bring to market new varieties of many other vegetables when diseases become rampant or new pathogens emerge.  

It amounts to future-proofing plants – even against diseases that are hitherto unknown or are in only specific geographies.  

″The ToBRFV outbreak gave us an opportunity to accelerate all processes – breeding, trialing, supply chain - like never before,″ explained Syngenta Principal Scientist Gregori Bonnet. ToBRFV was discovered in 2015 and Syngenta gave growers access to resistance in 2020 – from disease discovery to commercial resistance in just five years. Typically, these processes take up to 15 years depending on the crop.

Next-Gen Hybrids with Desirable Traits

The key is understanding the unique genetic characteristics of a plant. Omics technologies like genotyping and sequencing allow Syngenta scientists to decode a plant’s genetic data.  

Scientists can then identify and select specific desirable traits – like those that have natural  resistance to a known pathogen – and speed-breed them into next-generation hybrid plants. Researchers also select traits to improve color, aroma and shelf life. Combining traits to produce a hybrid with specific resistance is crossing a new frontier. The result: growers get the agronomic traits they need, and retailers get the taste, quality, and consumer-facing traits they need.  

Genotyping and sequencing also help to predict how new varieties will perform. That data contributes to better decisions about which traits or varieties to go ahead with, resulting in altogether faster and better crop advancement.

Leading Expertise in Genetics and Data Tools

If it sounds straightforward, it’s not. Accelerating breeding demands a very high level of expertise in the latest technologies and they are constantly evolving.  

″We tailor technical approaches to the complexity of the genetic traits we’re combining,″ said Laurent Grivet, Syngenta’s Applied Genetics Lead. ″For simple traits, we often use genetic mapping and trait introgression. For complex traits, we use genomic selection.″  

Syngenta experts also use both molecular markers and cell biology tools to speed up trait introgression into the next-generation plant.

Genetic Resistance is the Future

Think of a plant’s natural evolution over hundreds or thousands of years as it adapts to changes in the environment. Then put that on fast-forward. That’s happening now, at Syngenta.

″Between the discovery of a resistant trait and availability of a new product can take 5-15 years,″ said Céline Labourey, Trait Development Lead at Syngenta. ″We’ve rethought our processes to quickly deliver resistant hybrids to impacted markets and today have more than 15 new varieties available to growers in multiple tomato types against this virus - all achieved in under 10 years from disease discovery.″    

And the momentum to increase genetic resistance in tomato varieties – and other crops – continues. ″Genetic resistance is a key pillar in plant protection, along with many other pillars like crop management and best practices,″ Bonnet said.  

″We understand the importance of developing these superior varieties and bringing innovations with real value to the market every year. We’re committed to developing the solutions for the challenges growers face,″ he continued.