Received: 04-04-2014 / Accepted: 09-06-2014
In Vietnam, cassava witches’ broom is an important disease in cassava production. Phytoplasma, 16SrI group-‘Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris’ is the causal agent associated with cassava witches’ broom disease. In this study, leafhopper species were collected by using light traps. Total DNA was extracted from the insect species and the symptomatic plants. Nested polymerase chain reaction assay was used to detect the presence of phytoplasma. Amplification of a fragment 1100 base pair 16S rDNA gene confirmed that insect bodies were infected by the phytoplasma. Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis using EcoRI and HaeIII endonucleases revealed the insignificant difference between the test samples. Cassava witches’ broom disease is transmitted by cutting through vegetative propagation using diseased plants under screenhouse or field conditions. Whitefly (Aleurodicus dispersus), mealybug (Paracoccus marginatus) and red mite (Tetranychus urticae) do not transmit phytoplasma although they fed on cassava plant in the field.