Search

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sweet peppers (cv. Tosajishi beauty) with leaf blight symptoms were observed in Kochi Prefecture, 2003. Initially, small spots formed on leaves, and later enlarged to brown to dark brown spots, and eventually blighted leaves fell. Several bacteria that caused the same symptoms were isolated and subsequently reisolated. These bacteria were identified as Pseudomonas cichorii on the basis of bacterial characteristics and the 16S rRNA gene sequence. This is the first report of bacterial leaf blight in the sweet pepper in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A tobamovirus, belonging to the P1 pathotype, was isolated from sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum) in Kochi Prefecture, Japan and was identified as the Paprika mild mottle virus Japanese strain (PaMMV-J). Unlike a reported PaMMV strain incapable of infecting tomato plants, PaMMV-J occasionally infected tomato plants, although the infectivity was lower than that of Tomato mosaic virus. Analysis of the distribution and replication of PaMMV-J in tomato using in vitro RNA transcripts from the cDNA clone of PaMMV-J suggest that the low infectivity of PaMMV-J to tomato plants is due to low levels of both replication and cell-to-cell movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2004, Corynesopra cassiicola was isolated from dark brown spots on leaves and fruits and from black blights on stems of sweet pepper plants in Kochi Prefecture, Japan. The isolated fungus was then used to inoculate sweet pepper plants and subsequently reisolated from the plants with dark brown spots and black blights, showing that C. cassiicola is a new pathogen causing Corynespora blight on sweet pepper plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]