Planthopper transmission of Phormium yellow leaf phytoplasma

Phormium yellow leaf (PYL) phytoplasma was transmitted from diseased to healthy New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax) by the native planthopper, Oliarus atkinsoni (Homoptera: Cixiidae). By contrast, transmission was not effected by the introduced passionvine hopper, Scolypopa australis (Homoptera: Ricaniidae). Successful transmission of PYL phytoplasma from New Zealand flax to New Zealand flax by O. atkinsoni was demonstrated by symptomatology and by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of the test plants using phytoplasma-specific primers to the 16S rRNA genes. When the salivary glands and the remaining body of the planthoppers used in the transmission studies were tested separately by PCR for the presence of phytoplasma, PYL phytoplasma was detected in 100% of both the salivary glands and the bodies of pre-transmission O. atkinsoni, and in 44% and 67% of the salivary glands and the bodies of post-transmission planthoppers, respectively. The phytoplasma was not detected by PCR in the whole bodies of hoppers of S. australis.