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First Report of Yellow Leaf Syndrome of Sugarcane in Morocco

Yellow leaf syndrome of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) has been described from a number of cane-growing countries. Symptomatic leaves were collected from the CTCS and other localities of the Gharb region. The first symptoms were observed on cv. CP 66-346 as a reddening of the adaxial leaf surface; in other cultivars, particularly cv. CP 72-1210, the older leaf midribs turned bright yellow, followed by yellowing of the blade starting from the leaf tip and spreading downward. The older leaves dried out and in severe cases the plant died. The disease is widespread in both the Gharb and Loukkos cane-growing regions. Severe symptoms were observed in the spring of 1998 following a 5-month drought and an atypical flowering of the cane (in Morocco cane has not flowered for the past 25 years). Sugarcane yellow leaf phytoplasma was identified by the amplification of a band of the expected size of approximately 1,250 bp following nested PCR (polymerase chain reaction) with universal primers in samples of CP 66-346, LCP 85-384, and clones originated from fuzz, but not in cultivars CP 74-383 and CP 72-1210. This is the first report of yellow leaf syndrome on sugarcane in Morocco.