Plant Disease (2014) 98, 311-318

Elizabeth Alvarez, Juan F. Mejía, Nicoletta Contaldo, Samanta Paltrinieri, Bojan Duduk and Assunta Bertaccini (2014)
´Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris' strains associated with oil palm lethal wilt in Colombia
Plant Disease 98 (3), 311-318
Abstract: The distribution of lethal wilt, a severe disease of oil palm, is spreading throughout South America. An incidence of about 30% was recorded in four commercial fields in Colombia. In this study, phytoplasmas were detected in symptomatic oil palm by using specific primers, based on 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequences, in nested polymerase chain reaction assays. The phytoplasmas were then identified as `Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris', ribosomal subgroup 16SrI-B, through the use of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis and sequencing. Cloning and sequencing of 16S rDNA from selected strains, together with phylogenetic analysis, confirmed the classification. Moreover, collective RFLP characterization of the groEL, amp, and rp genes, together with sequence data, distinguished the aster yellows strain detected in Colombian oil-palm samples from other aster yellows phytoplasmas used as reference strains; in particular, from an aster yellows strain infecting corn in the same country.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Assunta Bertaccini, Nicoletta Contaldo, Bojan Duduk

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Phytoplasma asteris	Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis)	Colombia