Plant Disease (1997) 81, 862-866

C. Marcone, A. Ragozzino and E. Seemüller (1997)
Detection of Bermuda grass white leaf disease in Italy and characterization of the associated phytoplasma by RFLP analysis
Plant Disease 81 (8), 862-866
Abstract: Bermuda grass showing symptoms of a white leaf disease has been observed in fruit orchards, vegetable fields, and uncultivated areas in the Latium and Campania regions of central and southern Italy. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification with phytoplasma-specific primers, all symptomatic plants tested positively; whereas no amplification product was obtained from nonsymptomatic plants. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the PCR-amplified ribosomal DNA revealed a uniform pattern that was similar to that of the Bermuda grass white leaf phytoplasma collected in Thailand, which is known to be a member of the sugarcane white leaf phytoplasma group. By RFLP analysis, the phytoplasma infecting Bermuda grass could be distinguished from other group members, including the phytoplasmas associated with sugarcane white leaf and Brachiaria white leaf. This is the first report on the presence of the Bermuda grass white leaf phytoplasma in Europe.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Full text of article
Database assignments for author(s): Carmine Marcone

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
molecular biology - genes
surveys/sampling/distribution

---

Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Phytoplasma cynodontis		Thailand
	Phytoplasma cynodontis	Cynodon (crop)	Italy