Detection and Identification of a 16 S r II Group Phytoplasma Causing Clover Little Leaf Disease in I ran

White clover plants showing little leaf and leaf reddening symptoms were observed in I sfahan P rovince in central I ran. Restriction fragment length polymorphism analyses of nested PCR ‐amplified fragments from I ranian clover little leaf phytoplasma isolates and representative phytoplasmas from other phytoplasma groups using A lu I , C fo I , K pn I and R sa I restriction enzymes indicated that the clover phytoplasma isolates are related to the peanut WB group. Sequence analyses of partial 16 S r RNA fragments showed that I ranian clover little leaf phytoplasma has 99% similarity with soybean witches'‐broom phytoplasma, a member of the peanut WB (16 S r II ) phytoplasma group. This is the first report of clover infection with a phytoplasma related to the 16 S r II group.