Survey and identification of citrus greening bacterium from multiple locations in Maharashtra

Citrus is an important fruit crop in India. Citrus greening disease, caused by greening bacterium Candidatus liberibacter asiaticus, is one of the important diseases that limit the citrus fruit production in several part of the country including Maharashtra. A survey was conducted during 2011 in different parts of Maharashtra which indicated that the incidence of greening was more on sweet orange as compared to kagzi lime. The association of greening bacterium was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction and nucleotide sequencing. Sequence analysis of Citrus greening bacterium in different samples collected from various parts of Maharashtra showed that the 16S rDNA sequence ofCa. liberibacter asiaticus from sweet orange of Nanded, Jalna, Pune districts and from acid lime of Buldhana, Solapur and Pune districts were identical with each other.