WitchesʹBroom of Sarothamnus scoparius: A New Disease Associated with a Phytoplasma Related to the Spartium WitchesʹBroom Agent

In southern and central Italy, a witchesʹ broom and decline disease of Sarothamnus seoparius has been observed. In affected plants, phytoplasmas were detected by PCR amplification of ribosomal DNA, Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of PCR-amplifled DNA revealed that the diseased plants were infected by a phytoplasma that is closely related to the spartium witches" broom phytoplasma, a member of the apple proliferation group,