First report of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma solani’ associated with pepper chlorosis of sweet pepper, Capsicum annuum L., in Japan

In June 2017, sweet pepper plants showing chlorosis in leaves and fruits were observed in Susaki City, Kochi Prefecture, Japan. We had named the disease pepper chlorosis (Tairyoku-byo). A phytoplasma was observed by electron microscopy and identified as ‘ Candidatus Phytoplasma solani’, based on homology searches and molecular phylogeny using nucleotide sequences of 16S rDNA. To our knowledge, this is the first report showing the occurrence of ‘ Ca. P. solani’ in Japan.