1Department of Molecular and Cellular Engineering, Jacob Institute of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj-211007, Uttar Pradesh, India
2College of Agriculture, Tripura, Lembucherra-799210, West Tripura, India
3College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram-695573, Kerala, India
4Division of Plant Pathology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012, India
*Corresponding author e-mail: Govind Pratap Rao (gprao_gor@rediffmail.com)
Online published on 10 February, 2021.
Symptoms of papaya little leaf were observed in papaya plants in Kerala, India, during August 2018 with a disease incidence of 4%. Phytoplasmas were detected in the symptomatic papaya leaf samples by nested polymerase chain reaction with primer pairs amplifying 16S rRNA and secA genes. Pairwise sequence comparison and phylogenetic analysis of these gene sequences indicated the presence of phytoplasmas related with strains in the aster yellows ribosomal group. In silico RFLP analysis using the iPhy Classifier of the 16S rDNA sequence allowed the detected phytoplasma classification into the 16SrI-D subgroup. This is the first report of 16SrI-D subgroup association with a papaya little leaf disease.
Carica papaya, 16SrI-D subgroup, Disease, Molecular detection
