1Division of Plant Pathology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012, India
2Department of Plant Pathology, N.D. University of Agriculture and Technology, Kumarganj, Faizabad-224229, Uttar Pradesh, India
3Department of Botany, DDU Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur, 273009, Uttar Pradesh, India
4Amity Institute of Virology & Immunology, Amity University, Noida-201313, Uttar Pradesh, India
*Corresponding author e-mail: Govind P. Rao (gprao_gor@rediffmail.com)
Online published on 10 February, 2017.
During a survey on mustard fields in 2016, symptoms including flat stem, phyllody and virescence were observed at Jhangha (Gorakhpur district) and Kumarganj (Faizabad district), Uttar Pradesh, India. The total DNA extracted from symptomatic mustard samples from both locations (GKP and FZ samples) yielded 1.3 kb amplicons with the universal phytoplasma primers P1/P7 followed by 3Far/3Rev in nested PCR assays. Samples from asymptomatic mustard plants from both locations resulted negative in the same assays. BLAST analysis of 16S rRNA partial gene sequence of one mustard GKP strain showed sequence similarity with phytoplasmas classified in rice yellow dwarf group (16SrXI), while the mustard phytoplasma FZ strain showed similarity with strains belonging to the clover proliferation (16SrVI) group. Phylogenetic analysis and virtual gel plotting on 16S rDNA sequences of both mustard phytoplasma strains indicated their closer relationships with 16SrXI-B and 16SrVI-D phytoplasma subgroups, respectively. This is the first detection and preliminary identification of these phytoplasmas in mustard.
Mustard, 16SrVI, 16SrXI, flat stem, phytoplasmas
