Stolbur and Clover Proliferation Phytoplasma Infections in Tomato from Bingöl province, Turkey

Abstract

Phytoplasma-type symptoms were noted in tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum L.) in Bingöl province of Turkey. The remarkable symptoms include witch's broom, rosetting, purple curled and crispy leaves, small leaves in the upper branches and excessively elongated calyx. Genomic DNA isolation was performed to identify possible pathogens from the leaves of 11 plants with and without symptom. In the Nested-PCR test performed using universal primer sets, DNA bands of approximately 1200 bp size were obtained in 4 of 11 samples. Randomly chosen two DNA bands primed R16F2n/R16R2 were cloned into an appropriate plasmid vector to further characterizations. The recombinant plasmid DNAs purified were sequenced in both directions. Molecular assays of the 16S rRNA sequence confirmed the existence of the "Canditatus Phytoplasma solani" (16SrXII-A group) (similarity coefficient 1.00) (Accession no: MT279680) and the "Canditatus Phytoplasma trifolii" (16SrVI-A group) (similarity coefficient 1.00) (Accession no: MT279852) in the infected tomato samples. The isolates associated with tomato-phytoplasma were named as 'Bingöl D11' and 'Bingöl D90' isolates, respectively. The phylogenetic dendrogram created also confirmed where both pathogens belong. This current paper is documented in the first record of "Ca. P. solani" (16SrXII-A) and "Ca. P. trifolii" (16SrVI-A) in naturally diseased tomato in Bingöl of Turkey.

‘Candidatus Phytoplasma solani’ (Subgroup 16SrXII-A) Associated with Nicotiana tabacum Leaf Abnormality in Turkey

“…P. solani' from other solanaceae to tobacco or vice versa is more likely, as tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) in Turkey has been known to also harbor 'Ca. P. solani' isolates (Güller and Usta, 2020). The phylogenetic cladograms obtained from comparisons of three important ribosomal groups (16SrI/XII/VI) and their subgroups were similar to the topology of the three major phytoplasma subclades revealed in previous studies (Chung et al, 2013;Zhao et al, 2014).…”

“…Stolbur phytoplasma is associated with a wide range of hosts such as celery, grapevine, strawberry, tomato, and lavender, and its presence in five major world continents has also been reported (Bertaccini et al 2014). Likewise, it has been documented that this subgroup infects plants belonging to various families, such as carrot (Sertkaya, 2014), pistachio (Guldur et al, 2018), tomato (Güller and Usta, 2020), and grapevine (Şimşek and Güldür, 2021) grown in different regions of Turkey. However, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first record of infections caused by 16SrXII-A ribosomal subgroup phytoplasma in tobacco cultivation areas in Turkey.…”

“…In Turkey, the presence of phytoplasma in tobacco is highly suspected, as different groups of the pathogen have been previously identified in solanaceous and other crops (Çağlar et al, 2010;Usta et al, 2018;Yilmaz et al, 2019;Güller and Usta, 2020). Besides that, the causal agent of some viral-like tobacco diseases remains unresolved (Erdem, 2010;Çulal-Kılıç et al, 2017).…”

First Report of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma australasia’ Strain Related to Witches’-Broom of Tomato in Türkiye

“…In this district, tomato plants are grown in heated greenhouses in an area devoted to protectedculture vegetable production (Gül and Özenç, 2020). The symptoms of tomato-phytoplasma disease have been identified in different regions of Turkey (Güller and Usta, 2020;Çağlar and Şimşek, 2022). However, there is no scientific report related to the Antalya province.…”