High genetic diversity of ‘Candidatus phytoplasma solani’ infecting pepper in Serbia

Surveys for the presence of symptoms typical for the “stolbur” disease were conducted during 2015 and 2016 in pepper growing areas of Serbia. ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma solani’ detection was performed by Stol11 primer amplification. Characterisation was done by multi-locus typing (MLST) of tuf, secY, vmp1 and stamp genes. The disease was observed in pepper in all the surveyed locations except in south Serbia, whith a low incidence (3-5%). Overall, 13 MLST genotypes were distinguished, and the most common were Rqg31/Rqg50, Rpm35/M5 and STOL