Phytoplasma detection and identification in declining pomegranate in Iran

Samples from pomegranate trees were collected from cultivations in Khalilabad and Bardaskan (Razavi-Khorassan province, Iran) during summer 2015. The symptomatic plants showed slow decline during one or more years with a reduction in yield and fruit size and yellowing of the leaves, and/or reddening with thickening of veins. Finally the trees showed general dieback. After nucleic acid extraction and PCR/RFLP analyses of 16S ribosomal gene followed by sequencing and phylogenetic analyses a phytoplasma related with ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma pruni’ was identified in the symptomatic samples. The epidemiologic importance of this new phytoplasma-associated in diseased pomegranate in Iran should be further studied to establish control strategies and avoid dissemination of this phytoplasma for the first time reported in the Country.