Quercetin is known to possess antimicrobial activity against bacteria, fungi, and viruses. The activity of this flavonoid against phytoplasmas, non-cultivable plant pathogenic bacteria that cause numerous plant diseases, has never been examined before. The aim of this research was to examine the effect of different concentrations of quercetin (10 mM, 100 mM and 1 mM) on 'Candidatus Phytoplasma ...

Many insect-transmissible pathogens are transmitted by specific insect species and not by others, even if they are closely related. The molecular mechanisms underlying such strict pathogen-insect specificity are poorly understood. Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris, OY strain, line W (OY), is a phytopathogenic bacterium transmitted from plant to plant by sap-feeding insect vectors (leafhoppers). Ou...

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is a valuable ornamental species widely planted in Brazil. Many plants are affected by witches' broom disease, which is characterized by excessive axillary branching, abnormally small leaves, and deformed flowers, symptoms that are characteristic of diseases attributed to phytoplasmas. A phytoplasma was detected in diseased Hibiscus by amplification of rRNA operon sequenc...

Witches' broom disease of acid lime greatly affects the production of Mexican lime in Iran. It is caused by a phytoplasma (Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia). However, the molecular mechanisms that underlie phytoplasma pathogenicity and the mode of interactions with host plants are largely unknown. Here, high-throughput transcriptome sequencing was conducted to explore gene expression signatu...

"Candidatus Phytoplasma pruni" strain CX, belonging to subgroup 16SrIII-A, is a plant-pathogenic bacterium causing economically important diseases in many fruit crops. Here, we report the draft genome sequence, which consists of 598,508 bases, with a G+C content of 27.21 mol%.

Phytoplasmas, the causal agents of numerous plant diseases, are insect-vector-transmitted, cell-wall-less bacteria descended from ancestral low-G+C-content Gram-positive bacteria in the Bacillus-Clostridium group. Despite their monophyletic origin, widely divergent phytoplasma lineages have evolved in adaptation to specific ecological niches. Classification and taxonomic assignment of phytoplas...

Murta (Ugni molinae Turcz.) and common chaura (Gaultheria phillyreifolia (Pers.) Sleumer) are native species of Chile. Plants of both species have shown over-branching like witches’ broom. The causal agents of these symptoms in many plants are phytoplasma. To verify the presence of these microorganisms, DAPI (4’,6-diamidino2-phenylindole) staining analysis and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) we...

Maize redness (MR), induced by stolbur phytoplasma ('Candidatus Phytoplasma solani', subgroup 16SrXII-A), is characterized by midrib, leaf, and stalk reddening and abnormal ear development. MR has been reported from Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria for 50 years, and recent epiphytotics reduced yields by 40 to 90% in South Banat District, Serbia. Potential vectors including leafhoppers and planthop...

‘Candidatus Phytoplasma prunorum’ is causing ever increasing economic losses through the decline of apricot trees in European countries, e.g., Hungary. In this study, pathogen was identified from plant tissues and insects by nested-PCR. The insect species were via morphology molecular methods. incidence 29.6% randomly selected trees. Most infected with symptoms died within a year. These results...

Phytoplasma infections are able to limit the lettuce growth around world. The alterations of biochemical contents in host physiology following phytoplasma infection remain be elucidated. In this study, changes total protein and chlorophyll content, proline, malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation, peroxidase (POD) catalase (CAT) enzyme levels were investigated leaves plant after Candidatus asteris i...