Interaction of Capsicum spp. with Bemisia tabaci and pepper yellow leaf curl virus (PepYLCV) Disease

One effort to reduce the economic impact of yellow curl disease is to understand the interaction between chili pepper, B. tabaci, and PepYLCV by comparing the responses of three chili pepper species - Capsicum annuum, Capsicum chinense, and Capsicum frutescens - to yellow curl disease. The research was conducted in Lembang highland, West Java Province, Indonesia, which is one of the national areas for chili pepper cultivation. Three plants of each of the three chili pepper species were planted in a Randomised Block Design, replicated four times. Observational parameters included B. tabaci visits, disease incidence, disease intensity, molecular detection of PepYLCV genome presence, and the growth and development of chili pepper plants. Analysis of variance was performed for statistical analysis and significant differences were determined using Tukey’s test. The vector visitation frequency varied among chili pepper species, C. annuum (525 imagoes), C. chinense (1.027 imagoes) and C. frutescens (848 imagoes). Yellow curl disease incidence of C. annuum (16.7%), C. chinense (58.3%) and C. frutescens (50.0%). The yield loss of C. annuum (24.9%), C. chinense (83.5%) and C. frutescens (68.5%) due to this disease. The results of this study reveal several important findings regarding the interactions among B. tabaci vector visits, the development of yellow curl disease, and the morpho-biochemical responses of the three chili pepper species. This study not only enriches our understanding of the dynamics of disease spread caused by the yellow virus but also introduces a new perspective on the resistance levels of each species to infection and their implications for plant productivity.