What is phytoplasma in plant pathology?

Phytoplasmas are pathogens of agriculturally important plants, including coconut, sugarcane, and sandalwood, in which they cause a wide variety of symptoms ranging from mild yellowing to death. Phytoplasmas are most prevalent in tropical and subtropical regions.

What is the importance of phytoplasma?

Phytoplasmas are pathogenic bacterial Mollicutes inhabiting the plant phloem. They are associated with severe plant diseases in many different species worldwide, with huge economic impacts on several important crops (Maejima et al.

What is the meaning of phytoplasma?

Definition of phytoplasma : any of a group of bacteria that are related to mycoplasmas, cause plant diseases (such as aster yellows or elm yellows) by infecting phloem tissue, and are transmitted especially by homopteran insect vectors.

What is meant by phytoplasma?

Who discovered phytoplasma?

Phytoplasmas, a large group of plant-pathogenic, phloem-inhabiting bacteria were discovered by Japanese scientists in 1967. They are transmitted from plant to plant by phloem-feeding insect hosts and cause a variety of symptoms and considerable damage in more than 1,000 plant species.

How can phytoplasma disease be controlled?

Controlling phytoplasma diseases usually begins with controlling insect vectors. This starts with good weed removal practices and clearing brush that can host insect vectors. Bacteria in one plant can also spread to other plants, so often removal of an infected plant is necessary to contain the contagion.

Can phytoplasma be cultured?

Phytoplasma detection has been difficult, because phytoplasmas cannot be cultured and are frequently present in low amounts, particularly in dormant plants. Phytoplasma diagnostics have greatly improved with the availability of more sensitive PCR methods and the accumulation of phytoplasma sequence information.