Phytoplasmas are pathogenic bacteria within the class of Mollicutes, which are associated with more than 1000 plant diseases. In this study, we applied quantitative mass spectrometry to analyse affected pathways of the model plant tobacco (Nicotiana occidentalis) upon Candidatus Phytoplasma mali strain AT infection. Using tissue obtained from leaf midribs, 1466 plant-assigned proteins were iden...

Leafhoppers (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadellidae) account for more than 80% of all "Auchenorrhynchous" vectors that transmit phytoplasmas. The leafhopper populations in two almond witches'-broom phytoplasma (AlmWB) infected sites: Tanboureet (south of Lebanon) and Bourj El Yahoudieh (north of Lebanon) were surveyed using yellow sticky traps. The survey revealed that the most abundant speci...

Plant pathogens alter the course of plant developmental processes, resulting in abnormal morphology in infected host plants. Phytoplasmas are unique plant-pathogenic bacteria that transform plant floral organs into leaf-like structures and cause the emergence of secondary flowers. These distinctive symptoms have attracted considerable interest for many years. Here, we revealed the molecular mec...

A high variability of RNase P RNA structures is seen among members of the Mycoplasma group. To gain further insight into the structure-function relations of this ribozyme, we have searched for the RNase P RNA gene from more distant relatives, the phytoplasmas. These mycoplasma-like organisms are the aetiological agents of many severe plant diseases. We report the sequence and catalytic properti...

A molecular tool, focused on the mitochondrial Control Region (CR), was developed to discriminate the two hawthorn-feeding psyllid species, Cacopsylla melanoneura (Förster) and C. affinis (Löw), and to estimate their frequencies in mixed populations. The test was carried out in paired and single-tube amplifications and validated analysing 52 male specimens previously determined by morphological...

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based detection strategies were adopted to examine the etiology and vectorship of pear decline in Taiwan (PDTW). 16S rDNA sequences were amplified from total DNAs prepared from PDTW-affected pear trees Pyrus serotina Rehd. cv. Hengshan and pear psyllid Cacopsylla chinensis using PCR. According to the sequence analyses, C. chinensis carried phytoplasmas of two 16S...

BACKGROUND Witches' broom disease of Mexican lime (Citrus aurantifolia L.), which is associated to the phytoplasma 'Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia', is a devastating disease that results in significant economic losses. Plants adapt to biotic stresses by regulating gene expression at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a recently identified family of ...

The genome of rice orange leaf phytoplasma strain LD1 from Luoding City, Guangdong, China, was sequenced. The draft LD1 genome is 599,264 bp, with a G+C content of 28.2%, 647 predicted open reading frames, and 33 RNA genes.

Phytoplasma-like symptoms of leaf yellowing and calyx malformation were observed in eggplant (Solanum melongena L.), upward leaves fruit pepper (Capsicum annuum aerial tuber formation potato (S. tuberosum L.) during the survey performed late season (August to September) 2015 2016 Van province (Turkey). A total 100 samples tested by nested-PCR using universal primer pairs assess sanitary status ...

Phytoplasmas are plant-pathogenic bacteria that cause numerous diseases. This study shows a strong positive selection on the phytoplasma antigenic membrane protein (Amp). The ratio of nonsynonymous to synonymous substitutions was >1 with all the methods we tested. The clear positive selections imply an important biological role for Amp in host-bacterium interactions.