Sicana odorifera (Cucurbitaceae) a new phytoplasma host

Sicana odorifera also known as cassabanana, sikana or musk cucumber, is naturally grown from Mexico to Brazil and the west Indies. Fruits are edible, the pulp and the seeds have a medicinal use, and the whole plant is used as an ornamental. In the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, naturally diseased sikana plants were observed, for the first time, with witches' broom growths and other symptoms characteristic of plant diseases caused by phytoplasmas. The present work aimed at detecting and classifying the phytoplasma that may be the causal agent of the disease. Phytoplasma was discovered in sikana affected by witches' broom, on the basis of phytoplasma-specific DNA amplification in PCR. The phytoplasma found in sikana belongs to group 16SrIII. The disease was named sikana witches' broom.