engleski

First report of 'Candidatus Phytoplasma pini' in Croatia

Phytoplasmas, phloem inhabiting plant pathogens have been know as causal agents of many angiosperms diseases since the mid XX century. Only recently clear evidence has been provided of their existence in conifers. Phytoplasmas were identified in various gymnosperm species in Europe and America. As a consequence of these studies, a novel taxon - 'Candidatus Phytoplasma pini', has been established, since phytoplasma strains isolated from different pine species clearly differentiated in 16S rDNA sequence and host range from other, previously known phytoplasmas. In 2011, needles from 38 different conifer trees across Croatia were collected. Samples from Cupressus sempervirens, Juniperus oxycedrus, Picea abies, Pinus halepensis, P. mugo and P. nigra have been included in our studies. The trees were located in continental as well as littoral Croatia. After a total nucleic acid extraction, nested PCRs utilizing P1/P7 and R16F2n/R2 primers were performed. One P. mugo and six P. halepensis trees have been repeatedly confirmed as phytoplasma-infected. PCR amplicons of phytoplasma 16S rDNA sequence have been purified and sequenced. It was revealed that all phytoplasma isolates obtained from conifers in Croatia had the same 16S rDNA sequence which completely matched AJ632155 accession from Genbank, an isolate from Spanish P. halepensis. This is the first report of 'Ca. P. pini' in two conifer species in Croatia.

conifers; detection; phytoplasma

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