A PRELIMINARY ACCOUNT OF THE PRESENCE OF PEAR DECLINE IN MARMARA REGION OF TURKEY

Severe decline of pear trees cv. Deveci growing in Turkey has reached recently striking levels. Initial symptoms of affected trees were observed as reddening in autumn and sometimes quick decline in a few days. All the orchards exhibiting quick decline symptoms had severe attacks of pear psyllids (Cacopysilla spp). In the early autumn of 2005, six leaf samples, showing a diverse range of symptoms and 40 pear psyllids, collected from symptomatic pear trees by using an insect net, were tested by polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism analyses (PCR/RFLP). Universal phytoplasma primers P1/P7 and R16F2n/R2 were used for direct and nested PCR assays, respectively. Nested-PCR products were digested with RsaI, SspI and MseI restriction enzymes. After digestion with restriction enzymes the digested products showed the same profiles as the pear decline (PD) reference phytoplasma restriction profiles. PCR and RFLP tests of pear samples collected from the commercial orchards of Bursa province indicated PD infection of local cv. Deveci pear trees as well as the presence of PD phytoplasmas in pear psyllids.