SUMMARY Samples from apparently healthy European pears

(Pyrus communis) from Tunisian orchards and from trees showing symptoms recalling those of the “slow de-cline ” form of pear decline, i.e. reduced growth, pro-duction of fewer and smaller leaves that turn reddish and drop early in autumn, were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using the universal phytoplasma primers P1/P7. A band with the expected size (1.8 kbp) was obtained from samples collected from symptomatic trees only. PCR products were used for restriction frag-ment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis after diges-tion with the endonucleases AluI, RsaI and SspI. RFLP patterns obtained were consistent with those reported for Candidatus Phytoplasma pyri, thus providing evi-dence of the occurrence in Tunisia of this hitherto un-recorded pathogen