PMV®-01 is the first officially approved tomato vaccination product in Europe (2015). This strategy protects greenhouse plants used for fresh tomato production from severe quality and yield losses caused by the Pepino Mosaic Virus (PepMV).
PMV® is a sustainable bio-solution based on a unique mild and stable Chilean PepMV isolate that colonises and quickly protects the plants. PMV®-01 is the result of ten years of scientific research carried out in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and other countries. PMV®-01 has a certified production process with strict quality controls.
The PMV®-01 vaccination strategy is based on a “cross protection” approach – a well-known mechanism in plant virology. Plants infected with an isolate of a specific virus can no longer be infected with another isolate of the same virus. PMV®-01 contains a mild isolate of the Pepino mosaic virus that infects the plant and activates its RNA defence mechanism, thus preventing infection by a similar more aggressive virus.
Several years of scientific research on PepMV have shown that the mild 1906 isolate of the CH2 strain (PMV®-01’s active ingredient) is highly efficient in protecting tomato plants against infection by other PepMV isolates. The 1906 isolate was selected for its strong plant colonising characteristics as well as for its high genetic and phenotypic stability. Numerous trials have proven that its mildness is retained under various growth conditions and in distinct tomato varieties. PMV®-01 has a very high efficiency rate – up to 100% against aggressive isolates of the dominant CH2 strain in GEP trials. With the PMV®-01 protection, it is possible to avoid average crop losses of 20 to 30% caused by PepMV.
PMV®-01 has been authorised in France since August 2016 and is currently being used successfully by many growers in several French regions. It is also in use in the main tomato growing regions of Europe and Morocco.