infecting sesame and solanaceous crops in Turkey

A survey was carried out during 2002-2004 in Turkey to screen for phytoplasmas in sesame and periwinkle plants with phyllody symptoms, in pepper with stolbur symptoms, in eggplant with little and yellow leaves and in tomato with big bud symptoms. Em-poasca sp. and Orosius orientalis (Matsumura) [ = albicinctus (Distant)] leafhoppers were collected from infected sesame fields in 2003. Phytoplasmas detected in sesame, periwinkle, pepper, eggplant and O. orientalis showed 16S rDNA RFLP patterns that were most closely related to strains belonging to clover proliferation group (16SrVI-A). Phytoplasma associated with tomato big bud in Turkey belonged to the stolbur phytoplasma group (16SrXII-A). This is the first time that a phytoplasma associated with sesame phyllody has been detected and characterized by molecular techniques and the first report of phytoplasmas in solanaceous plants in Turkey. Key words: sesame phyllody, stolbur of pepper, Orosius orientalis, clover proliferation