Molecular Identification of Sugarcane White Leaf in Puer, Yunnan Province, China

Abstract

To confirm the phytoplasma association in 13 sugarcane white leaf (SCWL) symptomatic samples collected from Puer, China, nested PCR assays with phytoplasma universal primer pairs was performed. A ~ 1240 bp product was obtained from 10 out of 13 symptomatic samples, and 16S rRNA gene sequencing results showed that all sequences of SCWL isolates were 100% identical to each other. BLASTn analysis revealed 100% sequence similarity with the 16S rRNA genes from SCWL phytoplasma strains LC7 and LC9 from Lincang, Yunnan province, China belonging to 16SrXI-B subgroup. Virtual restriction fragment length polymorphism also confirmed that Puer SCWL strains were member of the 16SrXI-B subgroup.