Phytoplasmas are unculturable bacterial plant pathogens transmitted by phloem-feeding hemipteran insects. DNA of phytoplasmas is difficult to purify because of their exclusive phloem location and low abundance in plants. To overcome this constraint, suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) was modified and used to selectively amplify DNA of the stolbur phytoplasma infecting a periwinkle plan...

Dissemination of vectorborne diseases depends strongly on the vector's host range and the pathogen's reservoir range. Because vectors interact with pathogens, the direction and strength of a vector's host shift is vital for understanding epidemiology and is embedded in the framework of ecological specialization. This study investigates survival in host-race evolution of a polyphagous insect dis...

We have investigated nuclear changes induced in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) plant roots by two different pathogens, a phytoplasma of the stolbur group and the soil-borne fungus Phytophthora nicotianae var. parasitica, using light and electron microscopy as well as flow cytometry. Our results show that both pathogens strongly influenced nuclear structure, causing pyknosis and chromatolysis,...

Phytoplasmas, biotrophic wall-less prokaryotes, only reside in sieve elements of their host plants. The essentials of the intimate interaction between phytoplasmas and their hosts are poorly understood, which calls for research on potential ultrastructural modifications. We investigated modifications of the sieve-element ultrastructure induced in tomato plants by 'Candidatus Phytoplasma solani,...

Beginning in 2018, a new papaya disease occurred Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Affected trees exhibited symptoms including excessive shoot proliferation at the top of crown, leaf mosaic and crinkling, dieback. The was designated as Nigerian bunchy (NGPBT) disease. Since most characteristic symptom it indicative phytoplasma infection, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based molecular diagnostic meth...

Dissemination of vector-transmitted pathogens depend on the survival and dispersal of the vector and the vector's ability to transmit the pathogen, while the host range of vector and pathogen determine the breath of transmission possibilities. In this study, we address how the interaction between dispersal and plant fidelities of a pathogen (stolbur phytoplasma tuf-a) and its vector (Hyalesthes...

Rubbery taproot disease (RTD) of sugar beet was observed in Serbia for the first time 1960s. The already described neighboring Bulgaria and Romania at but it associated with abiotic factors. In this study on RTD its main growing area Serbia, we provide evidence association between ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma solani’ (stolbur phytoplasma) infection occurrence typical symptomatology. ‘Ca. P. identifi...