%0 Journal Article %A Davis, Robert E. %A Harrison, Nigel A. %A Zhao, Yan %A Wei, Wei %A Dally, Ellen L. %T ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma hispanicum’, a novel taxon associated with Mexican periwinkle virescence disease of Catharanthus roseus %D 2016 %J International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, %V 66 %N 9 %P 3463-3467 %@ 1466-5034 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/ijsem.0.001218 %K yellows disease %K Mollicutes %K phylogeny %I Microbiology Society, %X Mexican periwinkle virescence (MPV) phytoplasma was originally discovered in diseased plants of Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) in Yucatán, Mexico. On the basis of results from RFLP analysis of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene sequences, strain MPV was previously classified as the first known member of phytoplasma group 16SrXIII, and a new subgroup (16SrXIII-A) was established to accommodate MPV phytoplasma. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain MPV represents a lineage distinct from previously described ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma ’ species. Nucleotide sequence alignments revealed that strain MPV shared less than 97.5 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with all previously described ‘Ca. Phytoplasma ’ species. Based on unique properties of the DNA, we propose recognition of Mexican periwinkle virescence phytoplasma strain MPV as representative of a novel taxon, ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma hispanicum’. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/ijsem/10.1099/ijsem.0.001218