IDENTIFICATION OF AN ISOLATE FROM GROUP 16SRIII, Candidatus Phytoplasma pruni IN PLANTS AND SEEDS OF AMARANTH (Amaranthus hypochondriacus L.) IN MEXICO

Recently in the state of Tlaxcala, Mexico, the "witches' broom syndrome" (proliferation of shoots and reduction of internodes) was observed in amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus L.). This symptomatology in the field is uniformly distributed in the plantation rather than randomly or in patches, and the most severe damage is in the panicle which contains the seeds, generating considerable losses in the harvest. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to determine the presence of phytoplasmas in plants with symptoms of witches' broom syndrome and in seeds from diseased plants. In all of the samples that were processed an associated phytoplasma was found pertaining to the group 16Sr III, according to the results of the comparison of the patterns generated with enzymes of restriction of the products amplified by PCR. The sequences of the products obtained presented similarity of 98% with the phylogenic group 16Sr III Candidatus Phytoplasma pruni.