Bitter gourd little leaf disease associated to 'Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris'

Little leaf disease symptoms including dwarfed, thickened and puckered leaves and shortened internodes of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) plants were observed in Meiktila, Myanmar 2012. The causal agent was detected by polymerase chain reaction using universal phytoplasma primers, and classified by sequencing of 16S rRNA gene, ribosomal protein (rp) gene and protein translocase subunit (secY) gene and RFLP analysis. The expected target phytoplasma DNA fragment of 1.8 kbp was amplified from the bitter gourd little leaf (BitLL) diseased samples. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of BitLL...