Diversity of phytoplasmas associated with Almond Witches’-Broom disease in the Middle East

Almond witches’-broom (AlmWB) is a phytoplasma disease devastating almond production in Lebanon and Iran. Here, 34 leaf samples were collected from symptomatic almond trees in Iran and assayed for phytoplasma detection and characterization. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses, ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma phoenicium’ (subgroup 16SrIX-B) and ‘Ca. P. solani’ (16SrXII-A) were identified. Comparison with NCBI GenBank revealed that Iranian and Lebanese ‘Ca. P. phoenicium’ strain populations were genetically homogeneous.