Multilocus gene analysis reveals the presence of two phytoplasma groups in Impatiens balsamina showing flat stem and phyllody

Priyam Panda,G P Rao,Amrita Nigam

doi:10.1007/s13205-021-02666-2

Priyam Panda, G P Rao + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-021-02666-2

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Abstract

Rose balsam (Impatiens balsamina) is an important ornamental species grown worldwide for its attractive flowers and also having medicinal properties. Flat stem, little leaf, and phyllody symptoms were observed in I. balsamina nurseries in Uttar Pradesh and Tripura states of India during surveys from 2018 to 2020, with an incidence from 6 to 27%. Amplicons of ~ 1.2 kb were amplified in all the tested symptomatic samples of I. balsamina using universal phytoplasma primer pairs from different surveyed locations, but not from the asymptomatic plants. Pairwise sequence comparison, phylogeny, and virtual RFLP analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences identified the phytoplasmas as 16SrI-B subgroup strain from Tripura (Lembucherra) and 16SrII-D subgroup strain from Uttar Pradesh (Gorakhpur and Faizabad). Phytoplasma presence and identity was further confirmed by amplifying secA, rp, secY, and tuf genes. This is the first report of 16SrI-B and 16SrII-D phytoplasmas detection in I. balsamina in the world.

Highlights

Impatiens balsamina L. (Fam: Balsaminaceae), commonly known as rose balsam, is cultivated throughout the world as a seasonal ornamental plant at offices, hotel premises, and social landscapes for its attractive different colour flowers (Staples and Herbst 2005)
A typical flat stem symptom was recorded on I. balsamina plants grown at floral nurseries of ANDUAT, Faizabad (IBFS-FAZ) and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya University (DDUU), Gorakhpur (IBFS-GOK), Uttar Pradesh (Fig. 1a, b) with disease incidence of 6–10% (Table 1)
Setaria verticillata grown as weed in rose balsam nursery at DDUU, Gorakhpur was recorded with little leaf symptoms

Summary

Introduction

Impatiens balsamina L. (Fam: Balsaminaceae), commonly known as rose balsam, is cultivated throughout the world as a seasonal ornamental plant at offices, hotel premises, and social landscapes for its attractive different colour flowers (Staples and Herbst 2005). (Fam: Balsaminaceae), commonly known as rose balsam, is cultivated throughout the world as a seasonal ornamental plant at offices, hotel premises, and social landscapes for its attractive different colour flowers (Staples and Herbst 2005). Different parts of the plant are used as traditional remedies for disease and skin problems (Meenu et al 2015). Flower crops are affected worldwide by many biotic and abiotic stresses and the phytoplasma associated diseases are the main threats to their commercial cultivations (Bellardi et al 2018). Phytoplasmas are cell wall-less prokaryotic microorganisms colonizing plant phloem and insect tissues. The threat of phytoplasma diseases in the world is increasing with a high impact on crop yield, quality and economic losses (Bertaccini et al 2014; Bertaccini and Lee 2018).

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