Phyllanthus niruri L.: a new host of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris’ in India

In June 2014, Phyllanthus niruri plants growing wild in the university campus at Gorakhpur showed symptoms of little leaf and leaf chlorosis. Samples were collected and analyzed for phytoplasma presence through PCR assays. DNA extracted from symptomatic P. niruri plants produced amplicons of 1.2 kb in nested PCR using phytoplasma-specific primers. Symptomless plants did not produce amplicons. A 1.2 kb amplicon was directly sequenced. BLASTn analysis of the partial 16S rDNA sequence of P. niruri phytoplasma revealed 99% identity with strains from the ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris’ group. Phylogenetic analysis further confirmed the clustering of P. niruri phytoplasma with strains from the 16SrI group. This is the first report of a 16SrI group phytoplasma associated with P. niruri, a widespread tropical medicinal weed.