Convolvulus arvensis: A new natural alternative host for ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma australasia’ associated with a chickpea phyllody disease in Pakistan

Chickpea is an important pulse crop extensively grown in the arid and semi-arid areas of Pakistan. In April ۲۰۱۹, during routine data collection from chickpea fields in NIAB, Faisalabad, a few Convolvulus arvensis plants were observed with symptoms similar to phytoplasma infection. Four symptomatic and two asymptomatic C. arvensis samples were tested for phytoplasma presence using nested-PCR. BLASTn analysis of the obtained sequence and constructed phylogenetic tree confirmed that the detected phytoplasma is clustering with ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma australasia’ subgroup phytoplasma, which was previously reported as associated with a phyllody disease in chickpea and many other crops in Pakistan. The present study reports that, for the first time, C. arvensis is a new host for this phytoplasma in Pakistan, which may act as a primary source of spreading it in important crops.

کلیدواژه ها:

Field bindweed ، phyllody ، virescence ، ۱۶SrII-D