Identification of 16SrII group phytoplasma strain associated with witches’ broom of spinach and hemp in India Srivastava Apoorva1, Mall Smriti1,*, Singh Sushil Kumar2, Dubey Durgesh3, Rao Govind Pratap3 1Molecular Plant Pathology Laboratory Department of Botany, DDU Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur-273009, Uttar Pradesh, India 2Department of Plant Pathology, Acharya Narendra Dev University of Agriculture and Technology, Kumarganj, Ayodhya, 224229, Uttar Pradesh, India 3Institute of Agricultural & Natural Sciences, DDU Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur-273009, Uttar Pradesh, India *Corresponding author e-mail: Smriti Mall (smriti.mall@rediffmail.com)
Online published on 23 May, 2023. Abstract Witches’ broom and little leaf symptoms were observed in spinach and hemp plants in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India. Phylogenetic study and in silico RFLP analysis of 16S rDNA sequences confirmed the presence of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma australasia’ (16SrII-D) in both species. Its report in spinach is new while its finding in hemp suggests its role as potential natural reservoir of the phytoplasma. Top Keywords Spinacia oleracea, Cannabis sativa, 16SrII group, Alternate host, PCR, RFLP, Weed. Top |