1Plant Protection Research Department, Fars Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Centre, AREEO, Fars, Iran
2Plant Protection Research Department, Yazd Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Centre, AREEO, Yazd, Iran
3Alma Mater Studiorum- University of Bologna, Italy
*Corresponding author e-mail: Seyyed Alireza Esmaeilzadeh-Hosseini (phytoplasma.iran@gmail.com)
Online published on 2 February, 2026.
Since 2021, symptoms of little leaf disease have been observed in periwinkle plants grown in Eram garden, Fars province, Iran. The agent of the Eram garden periwinkle little leaf (EGPLL) disease was transmitted to periwinkle and eggplant plants through dodder and induced phytoplasma type symptoms. Phylogenetic and iPhyClassifier analyses using a 1250 bp fragment of the 16S rRNA gene, obtained via nested PCR, cloning and sequencing identified the EGPLL phytoplasma as a ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris’ strain belonging to the 16Sr group I, subgroup F. This is the first report of a 16SrI-F phytoplasma strain naturally occurring in periwinkle in Iran.
Dodder Transmission, Catharanthus Roseus, PCR, Little Leaf Disease
