Mohammad Saab^(1)* and Fateh Khatib⁽¹⁾

(1). Dept. of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agricultural, University of Aleppo, Aleppo, Syria.

(*Corresponding Author, Mohammad Saab, Email:Mohammad.Saab1995@gmail.com, Phone: +963938796193 )

Received: 23/05/2024                     Accepted: 19/01/2025

Abstract: 

Phytoplasma is a non-culturable, cell-wallless bacterium that infects various vegetable crops, including potatoes, which are considered one of the most important food vegetables grown in Aleppo Governorate. A phytoplasma infection survey and characterization of its symptoms were carried out in six potato fields planted in the fall season during 2022 in Tal Aran and Tal Hasel in Aleppo Governorate. Twenty-two apparently infected plant samples were collected, and genomic DNA was extracted from them, its concentration and purity were estimated, and its quality was tested. Nested PCR was performed in two stages using primers P1/P7 and R16F2n/ R16R2 to detect phytoplasma infection. The products were separated on 1% agarose gel and fragments of 1800bp in length were obtained for the first reaction and 1200bp in length for the second reaction. Six enzymes AluI, HinfI, BamHI, EcoRI, HhaI, Rsal were used in PCR-RFLP technique to digest the PCR products in the second stage. The digested products were separated on 2% agarose gel. The results were compared with reference studies to identify molecular groups and subgroups based on the 16S rRNA gene in phytoplasma. The nested PCR results showed that the collected potato samples were infected with phytoplasma by 77.27%. The average phytoplasma infection rate was 1% in both regions. The results of enzymatic digestion showed that the phytoplasma infecting potato belonged to the species Candidatus phytoplasma trifolii of the clover leaf group 16SrVI, and to the subgroup 16SrVI-A.

Key words: Potato, Phytoplasma, Molecular Characterization, PCR-RFLP technique, Purple top.

Full Paper in Arabic: pdf