Amplification and Nucleotide Sequences of Ribosomal Protein and 16 S rRNA Genes of Mycoplasma-like Organism Associated with Paulownia Witches' Broom.

To establish a sensitive and reliable detection method of paulownia witches' broom (PWB)-MLO, polymerase chain reactions (PCR) using two primer pairs for ribosomal protein (rp) and 16S rDNA (rD) were conducted. DNA fragments, 1.2kbp for the rp primer pair and 1.3kbp for the rD primer pair, were amplified in DNA samples extracted from infected paulownia leaves but not in healthy leaves, in controlled PCR conditions. Based on the use of both primer pairs, these disease-specific DNAs were detected after amplification of 100pg of total DNA from infected leaves. The nucleotide sequences of amplified ribosomal protein and 16S rRNA genes show that PWB-MLO is closely related to aster yellows type-MLOs.