Open AccessDetection of Phytoplasmas in Declining Pears in Southern Australia
Author(s) -
Bernd Schneider,
KS Gibb
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
plant disease
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.663
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1943-7692
pISSN - 0191-2917
DOI - 10.1094/pdis.1997.81.3.254
Subject(s) - phytoplasma , biology , restriction fragment length polymorphism , pear , primer (cosmetics) , nested polymerase chain reaction , polymerase chain reaction , restriction enzyme , genetics , dna , botany , virology , gene , chemistry , organic chemistry
Forty-nine pear tree samples collected in Victoria, most of them showing decline symptoms, were tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis to detect phytoplasmas. Two universal phytoplasma-specific primer pairs, fP1/rP7 and fU5/rU3, were tested, but only fU5/rU3 amplified the phytoplasma DNA adequately. Nested PCR with universal and group-specific primers, however, proved more effective. Thirty pear trees reacted positively in a nested PCR assay. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis with the restriction enzymes MseI and AluI of the PCR fragment amplified with the primer pair fU5/rU3 revealed patterns identical to those from the sweet potato little leaf phytoplasma. This is the first report of a phytoplasma in pear in Australia.