First report of sugarcane white leaf phytoplasma in Yunnan province, China

Abstract

Abstract The introduction of the sugarcane white leaf (SCWL) phytoplasma into Yunnan Province, China was confirmed for the first time by nested PCR. Sequencing and analysis of 17 nested PCR products of the 16S rDNA of the phytoplasma from random samples showed that these sequences were identical. A BLAST search indicated that the sequences were highly homologous (99.05–100% similarity) to the corresponding genome region in GenBank. Field surveys showed that disease incidence among affected cultivars was 13–52% and up to 100% in seriously infected fields. The sugarcane cultivar ‘Yuetang86-368’ was highly susceptible. SCWL is a destructive disease on sugarcane that requires preventive quarantine management measures to prevent its further spread.