‘Candidatus Phytoplasma wodyetiae’, a new taxon associated with yellow decline disease of foxtail palm (Wodyetia bifurcata) in Malaysia

Abstract

Landscape-grown foxtail palm (Wodyetia bifurcata A. K. Irvine) trees displaying symptoms of severe foliar chlorosis, stunting, general decline and mortality reminiscent of coconut yellow decline disease were observed in Bangi, Malaysia, during 2012. DNA samples from foliage tissues of 15 symptomatic palms were analysed by employing a nested PCR assay primed by phytoplasma universal ribosomal RNA operon primer pairs, P1/P7 followed by R16F2n/R2. The assay yielded amplicons of a single band of 1.25 kb from DNA samples of 11 symptomatic palms. Results from cloning and sequence analysis of the PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene segments revealed that, in three palms, three mutually distinct phytoplasmas comprising strains related to 'Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris' and 'Candidatus Phytoplasma cynodontis', as well as a novel phytoplasma, were present as triple infections. The 16S rRNA gene sequence derived from the novel phytoplasma shared less than 96 % nucleotide sequence identity with that of each previously describedspecies of the provisional genus 'Ca. Phytoplasma', justifying its recognition as the reference strain of a new taxon, 'Candidatus Phytoplasma wodyetiae'. Virtual RFLP profiles of the R16F2n/R2 portion of the 16S rRNA gene and the pattern similarity coefficient value (0.74) supported the delineation of 'Ca. Phytoplasma wodyetiae' as the sole representative subgroup A member of a new phytoplasma ribosomal group, 16SrXXXVI.

Multilocus sequence analysis of phytoplasma strains of 16SrII group in Iran and their comparison with related strains

“…Alternatively, sequence comparisons of other genomic regions coupled with ecological features have been adopted in identification and delineation of new phytoplasma taxons. With the current rules, 42 “ Candidatus Phytoplasma” species have been thus far described (Harrison et al, ; Martini, Marcone, Lee, & Firrao, ; Naderali et al, ).…”

The agent associated with blue dwarf disease in wheat represents a new phytoplasma taxon, ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma tritici’

“…The RFLP approach provides 'visible markers' for fast identification of diverse phytoplasmas. Thus far, 36 groups and more than 150 subgroups (termed 16Sr groups and subgroups, respectively) have been established within this classification scheme [25,26]. Since the RFLP analysis utilizes an adequate subset of characters (i.e.…”

Draft Genome Sequence of “ Candidatus Phytoplasma pruni” (X-Disease Group, Subgroup 16SrIII-B) Strain ChTDIII from Argentina

“…Despite numerous efforts, it has been challenging to obtain stable in vitro phytoplasma cultures ( 1 ), which limits the study of these pathogens. A classification scheme based on restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) 16S rRNA (16Sr) sequence profiles has allowed the identification of 36 16Sr groups to date ( 3 ). The X-disease group (16SrIII) is one of the most diverse and widely distributed groups of phytoplasmas ( 4 , 5 ).…”