, 15th Triennial Meeting of the Virology Section of the European Association of Potato Research (EAPR), Kayseri, Turkey, 28 - 31 May 2013, vol.1, no.1, pp.1-2
A survey was conducted to identify and search out of genetic diversity of phytoplasmas associated with diseased potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) plants in Kayseri and Sivas provinces in Turkey during August 2012. Potato samples with reddish or purplish discoloration and rolling of leaves symptoms were gathered from “Kayseri and Sivas” provinces. DNA was extracted from fresh leaf midribs of collected plants using CTAB method. All symptomatic plants reacted positively when tested by direct PCR (Polymerase Chain Reactions) using universal primer pair R16F1/R16R0 and followed by R16F2n/R16R2 in nested PCR. Phytoplasmas were detected in 14 symptomatic plants, out of 18 (10 from Kayseri and 8 from Sivas) samples collected. PCR products were not obtained from the asymptomatic 4 plants. BLAST sequence analysis of the 16SrDNA amplicons (1250 bp) showed that the phytoplasma found in potato samples from Kayseri and Sivas provinces are same and resembled “Candidatus phytoplama solani” (16SrXII-A ribosomal subgroup member) and shared with this last 99.8% sequence identity. The RFLP (Restriction Fragments Length Polymorphism) profile of the 1250 bp PCR fragments were restricted with EcoRI to distinguish between R16F2n/R16R2 product of phytoplasma and chloroplast DNA of plants and 6 different endonucleases (TaqI,
HhaI, AluI, MseI, RsaI and HpaII) usually used for phytoplasma subgroups differentiation, showed identical patterns to “Candidatus phytoplasma solani”. RFLP results were in harmony with the phylogenetic tree constructed with the sequences obtained, which grouped in one cluster all stolbur phytoplasma from Turkey and those of 16SrXII-A ribosomal subgroup members. To our knowledge, all phytoplasma diseases were
detected from potatoes in Kayseri and Sivas are same phytoplasma.