Phytoplasma cultivation: problems and solutions

none2noOver fifty years had elapsed since Doi’s publication (1967) on the presence of mycoplasma-like organisms (MLO) now known as phytoplasmas in the sieve tubes of plants showing hormone imbalance and malformations. These phloem-limited bacteria are transmitted by plant sap-feeding insects and are classified based on molecular analysis techniques on the 16S ribosomal gene at the level of the 'Candidatus' genus (Bertaccini et al., 2018). The few scattered evidences of cultivation possibility were recently confirmed by using media based on those successfully used for human and animal mycoplasma cultivation.openContaldo N., A. BertacciniContaldo N., A. Bertaccin