Foliar application of IBA and GA₃ on Mexican lime trees infected with witches' broom disease

The witches' broom disease is a phytoplasmic disease that is found on Citrus aurantifolia (Mexican lime). The disease is one of the most common diseases in the south of Iran, which has caused great damage to the country's agricultural industry. The causative agent of this disease is Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia, which is a prokaryotic (pseudo-bacterial) microorganism. The main symptoms of this disease are small and yellow leaves with short internodes. A random complete block design (RCBD) experiment was carried out in order to study the effects of plant hormone compounds on the disease, and each tree was considered as a block. The treatments used in this study were included foliar application of IBA (Indole-3-butyric acid, 600 ppm) and GA₃ (gibberellic acid-3, 600 ppm). The morphological traits, total protein, total chlorophyll, carotenoid content, PI and Fv/Fm of leaves were compared before and after treatment.