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Responses of Six Eurasian Ulmus Cultivars to a North American Elm Yellows Phytoplasma

Elms (genus Ulmus) of six clonal cultivars representing Eurasian species and hybrids were grafted when 2 to 3 years old with bark patches from U. rubra infected with an elm yellows phytoplasma or were left untreated as controls. The cultivars were U. glabra × minor ‘Pioneer’, U. minor × parvifolia ‘Frontier’, U. parvifolia ‘Pathfinder’, U. wilsoniana ‘Prospector’, and the complex hybrids ‘Homestead’ and ‘Patriot’. Trees were evaluated for infection and symptoms 1 or 2 years after inoculation. Infection was detected via the 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindol e·2HCl (DAPI) fluorescence test in 26 of 86 grafted trees representing five cultivars. Infection of selected trees was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of a fragment of phytoplasmal rDNA, and the phytoplasma was identified by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the amplified DNA using restriction enzymes AluI, RsaI, and TaqI. Elm yellows phytoplasma was also identified by nested PCR and RFLP analysis in two of seven inoculated, healthy-appearing, DAPI-negative trees and one noninoculated control tree. All RFLP profiles were identical to that of reference strain EY1. Phytoplasma-associated symptoms, observed in five cultivars, included suppressed growth, progressive size reduction of apical shoots and leaves, chlorosis, foliar reddening, witches'-brooms, and dieback. Phyto-plasma was not detected in cv. Homestead. Possible resistance of this cultivar to elm yellows phytoplasma was indicated by localized phloem necrosis in stems below inoculum patches.