Department of Agricultural Sciences (DipSA), Plant Pathology, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna Bologna, Italy
*Corresponding author e-mail: Assunta Bertaccini (assunta.bertaccini@unibo.it)
Online published on 2 January, 2015.
The great majority of research in phytoplasma field was devoted in the last decades to classify and differentiate these prokaryotes on the basis of molecular and bioinformatic tools. Inspite to the development of a robust and quite exhaustive classification system that allowed to further develop phytoplasma multilocus typing on diverse genes, biology represents still the very unknown part in phytoplasma research. However a deep and sound knowledge of phytoplasma biology is needed to allow the definition of feasible solutions to reduce phytoplasma disease impact on worldwide agriculture.
Phytoplasmas, taxonomy, biology, insect vector, plant disease, epidemiology
