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Leek Proliferation: A New Phytoplasma Disease in the Czech Republic and Italy

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Abstract

During the summer 1996, twelve of twenty-eight leek plants located in a garden near České Budějovice, South Bohemia exhibited symptoms typical of diseases associated with phytoplasmas. In summer 1998 similar symptoms were detected in leek plants in a field used for seed production located in Romagna, North Italy. In both cases the plants were established in the spring of the previous year. Plants showed flower abnormalities: stamen elongation, anther sterility, pistil proliferation, as well as poor, if any, seed production. Phytoplasma-like structures were detected by scanning and transmission electron microscopy in phloem sieve elements in the Czech diseased plants, but not in healthy ones. Nested-PCR amplifications of extracted DNA with phytoplasma-specific oligonucleotide primer pairs confirmed the presence of phytoplasmas in these plants at low concentrations. Restriction fragment length polymorphism analyses of amplified ribosomal sequences allowed the identification of detected phytoplasmas: all the samples from the Czech Republic contained aster yellows related phytoplasmas (16SrI-B) while in the Italian samples aster yellows related phytoplasmas (16SrI-B) together with stolbur related phytoplasmas (16SrXII-A) were identified. This is the first report of detection and identification of a phytoplasma disease of leek in the Czech Republic and Italy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto di Patologia Vegetale, University of Bologna, via F. Re 8, 40126, Bologna, Italy; (E-mail

    A. Bertaccini, S. Paltrinieri & M. Martini

  2. Department of Plant Virology, IPMB, ASCR, Branisovska 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    J. Fránová & M. Simkova

  3. Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science, Palacky University, Slechtitelu 11, 783 71 Olomouc –, Holice, Czech Republic

    M. Navrátil

  4. Servizio fitosanitario regionale, Cesena, Forli, Italy

    C. Lugaresi

  5. Laboratory of Electron Microscopy, Institute of Parasitology, ASCR, Branisovská 31, 37005, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    J. Nebesárová

Authors
  1. A. Bertaccini
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  2. J. Fránová
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  3. S. Paltrinieri
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  4. M. Martini
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  5. M. Navrátil
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  6. C. Lugaresi
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  7. J. Nebesárová
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  8. M. Simkova
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Bertaccini, A., Fránová, J., Paltrinieri, S. et al. Leek Proliferation: A New Phytoplasma Disease in the Czech Republic and Italy. European Journal of Plant Pathology 105, 487–493 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008745206438

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008745206438

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