Cota tinctoria and Orosius albicinctus: A new plant host and potential insect vector of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma trifolii’

Abstract

Samples of Cota tinctoria with phytoplasma symptoms including witches’ broom, stunting, twisting of the shoots and little leaf were observed in Bandar Abbas, Iran, in 2017. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the phytoplasma associated with Cota tinctoria witches’ broom (CtWB) is a strain of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma trifolii’. Furthermore, the phytoplasma was successfully detected in the leafhopper, Orosius albicinctus collected from the symptom-bearing plants. This work therefore reports a new phytoplasma-associated disease on Cota tinctoria and its putative insect vector.