Identification of 16SrII-D group phytoplasma associated with Setaria verticillata (L.) P. Beauv. in India

Phytoplasma suspected symptoms of little leaf and chlorosis were observed on Setaria verticillata grass at DDU Gorakhpur University Campus, Gorakhpur,Uttar Pradesh, India during 2018. To confirm the presence of phytoplasma, total DNA was extracted followed by PCR assay utilizing phytoplasma primers P1/P7 and R16F2n/R16R2. The  ~  1.2 kb amplicon was obtained by nested PCR assay from symptomatic Setaria samples. The amplified product was directly sequenced, aligned and submitted to GenBank. Comparison of 16S rRNA gene sequence of Setaria grass isolate shared 100% sequence identity with strains of 16SrII-D phytoplasma group (Ca. Phytoplasma aurantifolia). This is the first record of the occurrence of 16SrII-D subgroup phytoplasma in a weed grass, S. verticillata in India.