Situation of phytoplasma diseases in East Mediterranean Region, Turkey.

Phytoplasma diseases belong to Candidatus genus spreads rapidly due to their insect vectors. Presence of the phytoplasmas can be detected by electron microscopy and DNA dying (DAPI: Florescence microscopy) techniques. On the other hand, molecular methods such as PCR-RFLP, can be utilized to determine which phytoplasma in question, rather than only detecting its presence. For a long time, diseases caused by phytoplasmas were identified symptomatologically rather than exactly determining the causal agent in Turkey. These diseases were named after their typical symptoms and studied by virologists under virus and virus-like disease groups. Starting from the beginning of 2000s, widespread use of advanced techniques were started. As a result of these extensive works on vine, fruits, vegetables, crop plants, ornamental and weed plants’ phytoplasma pathogens, their vectors and natural hosts were identified, in the past 15 years. First ones of such studies conducted in Turkey were in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, revealing important findings on the status of the phytoplasma diseases. The current paper compiles the previous works on the phytoplasma diseases in the Eastern Mediterranean Region of Turkey.