Multigene detection of eggplant little leaf phytoplasma strainsbelonging to 16SrII and 16SrVI groups

Abstract

Brinjal little leaf (BLL) is a phytoplasma-associated disease widespread in different parts of the world that induces severe economic losses. Recently, it was associated with 16SrII and 16SrVI groups of phytoplasmas in eight states of India. In the present study, thirteen BLL strains were analyzed on three genes secA, secY and tuf using specific primers to verify their efficacy in the detection of 16SrII and 16SrVI phytoplasmas. While the secA and secY gene sequences confirmed the presence of the 16SrVI and 16SrII groups of phytoplasmas the tuf gene was successfully detected only in the 16SrII group infected samples from Uttar Pradesh. The results confirmed the validity and reliability of the secA and secY gene specific primers to detect both 16SrVI and 16SrII group phytoplasmas associated with BLL, while the tuf gene primers resulted in the detection of only the 16SrII phytoplasmas associated with the same disease.