ToBRFV, ToLCNDV, TYLCV, Bemisia tabaci, IPM, viral genome sequencing… what is behind these key terms of the Horizon 2020 VIRTIGATION project? Why are emerging viral diseases a threat to tomatoes and cucurbits? How did these impact fields and greenhouses in Europe and across the globe? And how can we protect tomatoes and cucurbits as vital staple crops for the future?
Consequently, our recent social media series “VIRTIGATION explained” shed a light on the science & purpose of the EU-funded VIRTIGATION project. By using popular science communication tools such as short videos and infographics, we delivered the complex answers to these questions in layman terms. Discover the top editions of the VIRTIGATION explained series:
5 facts about tomatoes and cucurbits
Firstly, VIRTIGATION explained focused on the fruits and vegetables covered by our project, the humble tomatoes and cucurbits. Here are 5 facts about these key ingredients in our daily lives:
- Tomato fact #1: the edible berry of the plant Solanum lycopersicum. Belongs to the Solanaceae, or nightshades, a family of flowering plants.
- Tomato fact #2: originated in western South America and Central America. Spain brought them to Europe. From there, the plant was spread to other parts of the European-colonized world in the 16th century.
- Tomato fact #3: the term "tomato" has its origins in the Aztecs language Nahuatl, where it was labelled as "tomatl".
- Tomato fact #4: often classified as vegetables. However, tomatoes belong actually to fruits, and are botanically classified as berries.
- Tomato fact #5: tomatoes grow across the world, with greenhouses enabling production all year round.
- Cucurbit fact #1: gathers an impressive 965 species. The most known are cucumber, zucchini, squash, pumpkin, water melon and gourds as e.g. bottle gourd.
- Cucurbit fact #2: were one of the earliest cultivated plants in both the Old & New Worlds. One of the oldest fossil cucurbit, the Cucurbitaciphyllum Iobatum, even dates back to the Paleocene epoch.
- Cucurbit fact #3: is derived from the Classical Latin word "cucurbita", which means gourd.
- Cucurbit fact #4: some cucurbits are creeping vines. These root in the ground and grow up supporting frames, to which they wrap around with thin, spiraling tendrils.
- Cucurbit fact #5: like tomatoes, cucurbits grow all year round and across the globe.
Infographics and video highlights
Afterwards, other instalments of the VIRTIGATION explained series detailed in particular the research plan of our project. Additionally, we outlined the main aims of the multi-actor approach of with its VIRTIGATION network. View the gallery below gathering the video playlist and the infographics of VIRTIGATION explained:
