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16S rDNA sequence analysis of witches’ broom phytoplasma isolates from Chinese jujube in North China

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Abstract

Phytoplasmas are agriculturally important pathogens for more than one thousand plant species. Jujube witches’ broom (JWB), a plant disease caused by phytoplasma, is highly fatal in Chinese jujube, an important fruit tree and medicinal crop in Asia. The 16S rDNA of 15 JWB isolates from 4 provinces in North China were amplified, cloned and sequenced. The isolates were over 99.8 % homologous, indicating that JWB phytoplasma is highly conserved. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rDNA sequences from those isolates, together with the representative phytoplasma sequences from other host species, showed that all JWB isolates belong to a subgroup of 16Sr V group and are closely related to Elm yellows (EY) phytoplasma. Virtual RFLP and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis of 16S rDNA also revealed that JWB isolates have a relatively low level of genetic diversity and that their SNP sites exhibit a strong bias toward A/G variation when compared with other phytoplasmas. The high similarity among JWB isolates from different regions and cultivars is consistent with the conserved symptoms of the disease and the wide infectivity of JWB phytoplasmas. This result provides valuable information to better understand the genetic diversity of JWB phytoplasmas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Science, Agricultural University of Hebei, Baoding, 071000, China

    Jiaodi Bu, Long Peng & Jin Zhao

  2. Research Center for Chinese Jujube, Agricultural University of Hebei, Baoding, 071000, China

    Mengjun Liu

Authors
  1. Jiaodi Bu
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  2. Long Peng
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  3. Mengjun Liu
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  4. Jin Zhao
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Mengjun Liu or Jin Zhao.

Additional information

Jiaodi Bu and Long Peng contributed equally to this work.

Electronic supplementary material

Fig. S1

Virtual 16S rDNA-RFLP fingerprints of JWB phytoplasmas in North China. Recognition sites for the following 17 restriction enzymes were used in the simulated digestions: AluI, BamHI, BfaI, BstUI (Thai), DraI, EcoRI, HaeIII, HhaI, HinfI, HpaI, HpaII, KpnI, MboI, MseI, RsaI, SspI, and TaqI. MW, QX174DNA-HaeIII digestion. 1–14, K and S were the same as in Fig. 1. (PDF 5.30 mb)

Fig. S2

RFLP profiles of different JWB phytoplasma 16S rDNA sequences that were digested by Alu1(A), Bfa1(B), Hpa1(C), Hha1(D) and Rsa1(E). 1–14, K and S were the same as in Fig. 1. (PDF 5.23 mb)

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Bu, J., Peng, L., Liu, M. et al. 16S rDNA sequence analysis of witches’ broom phytoplasma isolates from Chinese jujube in North China. Australasian Plant Pathol. 45, 119–122 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13313-016-0396-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13313-016-0396-5

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