title: Characterization of the mycoplasmalike organism associated with witches'-broom disease of lime and proposition of a Candidatus taxon for the organism, "Candidatus phytoplasma aurantifolia".
abstract: Witches'-broom disease of small-fruited acid lime (WBDL) is a severe disease caused by a mycoplasmalike organism (MLO) in the Sultanate of Oman and the United Arab Emirates. The WBDL MLO was characterized by studying its genome size, the sequences of its 16S ribosomal DNA and the 16S-23S ribosomal DNA spacer region, and hybridization profiles obtained by using WBDL MLO-specific probes. The size of the WBDL MLO genome is 720 kbp. Genomic similarities with the MLOs of sunhemp, sesame, and alfalfa phyllodies were demonstrated, and we found that the WBDL MLO belongs to the sunhemp phyllody phylogenetic subgroup.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Villenave d'Ornon, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zreik
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carle
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Bové
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garnier
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009178:Mycoplasmataceae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000737:chemistry; D012338:RNA, Ribosomal, 23S / Q000737:chemistry; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D008973:Tenericutes / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D014197:Trees / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D012338:RNA, Ribosomal, 23S