Phytopathogenic Mollicutes

For long-term maintenance of phytoplasma inoculum, micropropagation of periwinkle shoots infected with a specific ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma’ species is currently a viable method. This protocol is available for maintaining the phytoplasma inoculum in its natural host for a few fruit trees and ornamental crops. Phyllody is a major problem in the domestic cultivation of marigolds in India. A micropropagation protocol is necessary for the long- term storage of inoculum for the evaluation of antimicrobials. Thus, a tissue culture protocol for maintaining the marigold phyllody phytoplasma that is a strain of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris’ in its original host Tagetes erectus has been successfully produced. Infected marigold shoots of 2–3 cm have been successfully established in Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with indolbutyrric acid (1 mg/l) and gibberellic acid (0.5 mg/l) and tested positive in PCR for phytoplasma presence after culture establishment. This is the first report of a micropropagation protocol for a ‘Ca. P. asteris’ strain associated with marigold phyllody in its original host plant species marigold.