Heavy metal accumulation in virus-infected tomatoes

The study of the relationship between host-plants, viral pathogens and heav y metals can provide new knowledge to support the efforts directed toward e nvironmental balance, the development of resistant plants and stable farmin g. The objective of this study was to establish the effect of the combinati on of virus infection and heavy metals on tomatoes: the effect of heavy met al accumulation rate in the plants and of plant behaviour under the effect of both stress factors. It has been established that infections, caused by the cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) and tomato mosaic virus (ToMV), affect the accumulation rate of heavy metals such as Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd and As in tomatoes . This process is specific for each element and is expressed more strongly with CMV. The response of plants, treated with heavy metals through the roo t system and infected with CMV and ToMV is different, depending on the viru s. CMV combined with heavy metals depressed the whole plant to the same deg ree whereas ToMV in combination with the same heavy metals depressed the de velopment of the tomato root system more intensively in comparison with the overground part. There is a relationship between the studied biotic and ab iotic stress factors of tomato plants.