Phytoplasma-like symptoms were observed in plants of pepper (Capsicum annum), red cabbage (Brassica oleracea), common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), maize (Zea mays), alfalfa (Medicago sativa), cucumber (Cucumis sativus), sunflower (Helianthus annus), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and squash (Cucurbita spp.) in West Azarbaijan province of Iran. The major symptoms observed were little leaf, witches' broom, yellowing, phyllody, big bud and dwarfing of plants. DNA fragments of approximately 1800 and 1250 bp were amplified from 36 samples using universal primer pairs P1/P7 and R16F2n/R16R2 in first round and nested PCR, respectively. The phytoplasmas detected in maize, cucumber and tomato were characterized and differentiated through sequence analysis of PCRamplified rDNA. These phytoplasmas were identified as members of the clover proliferation phytoplasma group (16SrVI group) and classified in subgroup 16SrVI-A. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of the occurrence of 16SrVI phytoplasmas in maize.
During field surveys in 2013 and 2014, about 14 weed plants showing phytoplasma diseases symptoms including yellowing and witches' broom were collected and tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using universal primers for 16SrRNA starting by primer pairs P1/P7 in first round PCR followed by primer pair R16F2n/R16R2 in nested PCR. The detected phytoplasmas were characterized and differentiated through sequence analysis of PCR-amplified rDNA and virtual restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP).
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