Molecular Diagnostic Tools for Detection and Differentiation of Phytoplasmas Based on Chaperonin-60 Reveal Differences in Host Plant Infection Patterns – T. Dumonceaux, M. Green, C. Hammond, E. Perez, C. Olivier – PLOS One 2014

Summary: Phytoplasmas (‘Candidatus Phytoplasma’ spp.) are insect-vectored bacteria that infect a wide variety of plants, including many agriculturally important species. The infections can cause devastating yield losses by inducing morphological changes that dramatically alter inflorescence development. We describe a method for accessing the chaperonin-60 (cpn60) gene sequence from a diverse array of ‘Ca.Phytoplasma’ spp. The oligonucleotide-coupled fluorescent microsphere assay revealed samples that were infected simultaneously with two subtypes of phytoplasma. These tools were applied to show that two host plants, Brassica napus and Camelina sativa, displayed different phytoplasma infection patterns.

Open Access: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0116039