Detection and Molecular Characterization of Bermuda Grass (Cynodon dactylon) White Leaf Phytoplasma from Turkey

Bermuda grass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] plants exhibiting phytoplasma-like symptoms, (light green to yellow streaks on the leaves, bushy growth and stunting) were observed in different regions of Turkey. All diseased Bermuda grass plants were positive when 16SrDNA-amplifying primers were used in nested PCR. It was noted that Bermuda grass white leaf-phytoplasma (BGWL-phytoplasma), which belongs to the 16SrXIV group, was consistently associated with symptomatic plants and was present in more than one province of Turkey such as Aydin, Antalya, Mersin and Adana. RFLP assays conducted on the 16S primed-DNA of seven BGWL-phytoplasma PCR-positive samples yielded a uniform profile from all samples, indicating that a single strain of the BGWL-phytoplasma was affecting all the diseased Bermuda grass plants. This information was further confirmed by sequence and phylogeny analyses. All Turkish isolates of BGWL-phytoplasma shared 96-99% sequence homology among them, and all grouped in one cluster close to BGWL isolates from Iran and Italy. Presumably, this phylogenetic allocation is related to the geographical origin of the identified isolates. To our knowledge, this is the first report of BGWL disease and of its associated phytoplasma in Turkey. (C) 2013 Friends Science Publishers