First Report of a 16SrIV Group Phytoplasma Associated with Declining Coyol Palms in Honduras

Plant Disease
M M RocaCarlos Oropeza

Abstract

Lethal yellowing (LY) of coconut palm (Cocos nucifera L.) caused by a subgroup 16SrIV-A phytoplasma has been present along the northern coast and adjacent Bay Islands of Honduras since 1996. In the southern municipalities of San Esteban and Guanaco, approximately 150 km from the Atlantic coast, substantial numbers of coyol palm (Acrocomia aculeata (Jacq.) Lodd. ex Mart.) and several coconut palms growing nearby were either dead or in an advanced stage of decline during 2005. Declining palms of both species exhibited loss of fruit, withered inflorescences, and dried, discolored (grayish brown) leaves. Most or all leaves on declining palms had collapsed and hung downward around the stem. Samples (3 to 5 g) of tissue were excised from stems of 20 coyol and 2 coconut palms. DNA was extracted from each sample using a previously described protocol (2) and assayed for phytoplasma DNA using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) employing phytoplasma universal rRNA primer pair P1 (1) and P7 (4). A product of expected size (approximately 1.8 kb) was amplified from 12 of 20 diseased coyol palms, 2 of 2 diseased coconut palms and from DNA of a Florida-grown Chinese fan palm (Livistona chinensis (Jacq.) R. Br. ex Mart.) with LY symptoms included ...Continue Reading

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