- Authors: Bertaccini A, Cardoso F, Contaldo N, de Sousa E, Fránová J, Koloniuk I, Matos J, Mimoso C, Paltrinieri S
- Publication Year: 2016
- Journal: International Journal of Systematic And Evolutionary Microbiology
- Link: http://ijs.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/ijsem/10.1099/ijsem.0.000871
A new phytoplasma was identified in naturally infected blackberry plants exhibiting witches’ broom symptoms in Portugal. The 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that it is related to ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma rubi’ (16SrV-E ribosomal subgroup) and RFLP analysis revealed a unique profile following MseI endonuclease digestion of R16F2n/R2 amplicons that distinguished it from the strains belonging to previously established 16SrV phytoplasma subgroups. The in silico restriction analyses confirmed that the phytoplasma strain from blackberry is different from all the other strains reported in group 16SrV. Phylogeny of the 16S rRNA gene sequences, sequence analyses of 16S-23S, tuf, rplV-rpsC, rplF-rplR, rplO-SecY-map and uvrB-degV genetic loci, as well as the variability of unique oligonucleotide sequences defined for ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma rubi’ confirmed the uniqueness of this phytoplasma strain from Portugal for which a novel ribosomal subgroup, 16SrV-I, is proposed. The representative of this new subgroup was named blackPort phytoplasma (Portuguese blackberry phytoplasma).