First report of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma australasia’ related strain associated with opium poppy phyllody and stunting in India

• Published in: Australasian plant pathology Vol. 52; no. 5; pp. 501 - 505
• Main Authors: Singh, Sushil Kumar, Mishra, R. K., Reddy, M. Gurivi, Rahul, S. N., Marcone, Carmine, Rao, Govind P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-09-2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agricultural technology; Agriculture; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Candidatus Phytoplasma; DNA sequencing; Ecology; Entomology; Gene sequencing; Life Sciences; Phyllody; Phytoplasma; Plant Pathology; Plant Sciences; Research Note; rRNA 16S; SecA gene; Signs and symptoms; Subgroups; 16SrII-D subgroup; Phytoplasma; secA gene; 16S rRNA gene
• ISSN: 0815-3191; 1448-6032
• DOI: 10.1007/s13313-023-00937-5

During a survey performed in opium fields grown at Acharya Narendra Deva University of Agriculture & Technology (ANDUAT), Kumarganj, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India in March 2021, symptoms of phyllody and stunting were observed on opium plants. The association of phytoplasmas was confirmed in all the symptomatic opium samples by using PCR of 16S rRNA and secA genes sequences. Association of a ‘
Candidatus
Phytoplasma australasia’ related strain was confirmed by 16S rRNA and secA gene sequence comparison analysis. Virtual RFLP analysis of ~ 1.25 kb product of 16S rRNA gene sequences using the iPhyClassifier tool further classified the opium phytoplasma isolate into the 16SrII-D subgroup. This is the first report on identification of a phytoplasma disease in opium in world.