The production of acid lime (Citrus aurantifolia) has declined in many parts of the world due to phytoplasmal infection by “Candidatus Phytop- lasma aurantifolia”. The resulting Witches’ Broom Disease of Lime (WBDL) causes stem and leaf proliferation and clustering that starts on a few branches and continues to spread until trees are killed within 5 - 7 years. Recent studies have shown that Phytoplasma alters the chemical composition of leaves. Leaves from WBDL- symptomatic lime trees were collected to de- termine their volatile compound composition. Phytoplasmal infection was confirmed by a po- lymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay using pri- mers P1/P7 and R16F2n/R16R2 in direct and nested PCR, respectively. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) profiles of acid lime Phytoplasma were identical with those of WBDL Phytoplasma. The phytochemical com- position of symptomatic (infected) and asymp- tomatic (healthy) leaves of acid lime were de- termined using GC-MS analysis of steam dis- tilled extract. The WBDL-symptomatic leaves had higher concentration in Ä-limonene, â-oci- mene and trans-caryophyllene and a reduction in other compounds (i.e. citral, citronellal, cis- verbenol, neryl acetate, and linalool). Variations in the leaf phytochemical concentration indicate a possible role in the development of the WBDL disease symptoms. KEYWORDS Citrus aurantifolia; Phytoplasma; Essential Oils; Volatile Compounds; Phytochemistry; Oman
The production of acid lime (Citrus aurantifolia) has declined in many parts of the world due to phytoplasmal infection by “Candidatus Phytop- lasma aurantifolia”. The resulting Witches’ Broom Disease of Lime (WBDL) causes stem and leaf proliferation and clustering that starts on a few branches and ...
مادة فرعية
American Journal of Plant Sciences