Infection of sugarcane cultivars by phytoplasma

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In the 1990s a sugarcane disease called Yellow Leaf Syndrome was recorded in plantations worldwide. A viral (Sugarcane Yellow Leaf Virus) and a bacterial pathogen (Sugarcane Phytoplasma) were proposed as pathogens. In the meantime the virus was identified as a causal agent and much work concentrated on the virus. However, the relationship between symptoms and viral presence is not strict. One report claims that phytoplasma may enhance the symptom development. Our preliminary work now identified 2 phytoplasma strains in Hawaiian cultivars, which were also infected by the virus. The project intends- to further characterize these phytoplasma strains,- to test which treatment eliminates phytoplasma,- to evaluate how much plantation plants are infected by phytoplasma,- to determine phytoplasma titer in symptomatic versus non-symptomatic plants,- and to determine whether the probable insect vectors of phytoplasma, which are found in the plantations, are infected by phytoplasma.