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First report of an association of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma cynodontis’ with Napier grass white leaf disease in India

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Abstract

Napier grass is an important forage crop grown in India for livestock feed. White leaf symptoms with multiple shoot proliferation (NGWL) were observed in Napier grass fields at Baramati, Pune and Devanahalli, Bengaluru. The symptomatic samples were collected and analysed for the presence of phytoplasma by PCR assays. Amplicons of the expected sizes (1800 and 1250 bp) were amplified in all the symptomatic plants using the universal primer pair P1/P7 and R16F2n/R16R2, respectively, but not from any non-symptomatic plants. The ~ 1.2 kb product of 16S rDNA sequence of NGWL showed that they had 99% nucleotide identity with ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma cynodontis’-related strains. The phylogeny and virtual RFLP analysis revealed that NGWL phytoplasma strain belonged to the 16SrXIV-A subgroup. This is the first report of association of Napier grass by a strain of 16SrXIV-A phytoplasma worldwide.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Plant Pathology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India

    Madem Gurivi Reddy,  Madhupriya & Govind Pratap Rao

  2. Discipline of Life Sciences, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi, 110068, India

    Priyam Panda

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  1. Madem Gurivi Reddy
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  2. Madhupriya
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  3. Priyam Panda
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  4. Govind Pratap Rao
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Correspondence to Govind Pratap Rao.

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Reddy, M.G., Madhupriya, Panda, P. et al. First report of an association of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma cynodontis’ with Napier grass white leaf disease in India. Indian Phytopathology 73, 155–158 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42360-019-00187-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42360-019-00187-w

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