Abstract
In 2015, a disease of unknown origin appeared in Torreon, Coahuila, in the Northeast of Mexico, causing great mortality in Phoenix palms, especially in Phoenix canariensis. Until early 2019, around 1300 palms died from this disease. The aim of this study was to determine its etiology. The symptoms registered in affected palms were similar to those described for Texas Phoenix Palm Decline (TPPD). Phytoplasmas were detected in samples from nine P. canariensis individuals using a TaqMan/real-time PCR assay specific for group 16SrIV detection. DNA of positive samples was amplified by nested PCR using primer pair P1/P7 followed by LY16Sf/LY16-23Sr and R16F2n/R16R2. In silico analysis of the sequences obtained revealed the presence of phytoplasmas associated with TPPD, belonging to subgroup 16SrIV-D. This is the first report of a disease associated with subgroup 16SrIV-D phytoplasmas in the Northeast of Mexico, further extending the known geographical range of this pathogen. Key words: Texas Phoenix palm decline, 16SrIV-D phytoplasmas, nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR), sequence analysis.
Highlights
Lethal yellowing-type diseases (LYDs) associated with group 16SrIV phytoplasmas are among the most important diseases affecting palms worldwide due to the significant economic losses that they have caused throughout the years, in coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) plantations (Gurr et al, 2016)
Since no successful method for culturing group 16SrIV phytoplasmas on artificial media exist, these pathogens are currently studied using a variety of detection techniques that target phytoplasma DNA in infected host tissues, such as nested PCR (Gundersen and Lee, 1996), which is useful for phytoplasma characterization and in silico sequence analysis, and real-time PCR (Córdova et al, 2014), which increases sensitivity and reduces sample-processing time
In 2015, a disease with symptoms suggestive of a LYD appeared in Torreon, Coahuila, causing great mortality in Phoenix palms, especially in P. canariensis individuals around fifty to sixty years old
Summary
Lethal yellowing-type diseases (LYDs) associated with group 16SrIV phytoplasmas are among the most important diseases affecting palms worldwide due to the significant economic losses that they have caused throughout the years, in coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) plantations (Gurr et al, 2016). These two species of palms have been used as ornamentals for more than sixty years in the city of Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico. In 2015, some of these plants began showing symptoms suggestive of a phytoplasma disease, similar to both lethal yellowing (LY) and one of its variants, the Texas Phoenix palm decline (TPPD) (McCoy et al, 1980; Harrison et al, 2008). By early 2019, the disease in Torreon was associated with the death of around 1300 Phoenix species palms throughout the city, mostly affecting mature P. canariensis individuals
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