Transmission of a sugarcane yellow leaf phytoplasma by the delphacid planthopper <i>Saccharosydne saccharivora</i> , a new vector of sugarcane yellow leaf syndrome

During surveys of sugarcane fields in western and central Cuba from December 2001 to March 2003, the delphacid planthopper Saccharosydne saccharivora was the most prevalent of the Auchenorrhyncha fauna surveyed. Individuals of S. saccharivora collected tested positive for the sugarcane yellow leaf phytoplasma (SCYLP). Saccharosydne saccharivora were reared in cages and used for experimental transmission studies of SCYLP. The S. saccharivora were given acquisition‐access feeds of 72 h on SCYLP‐infected canes collected from the field followed by an inoculation‐access period of 15 days on healthy sugarcane seedlings. Symptoms of yellow leaf syndrome developed on 24 out of 36 plants, 7–12 months postinoculation. None of the 36 healthy seedlings that were inoculated with S. saccharivora fed on phytoplasma‐free sugarcane developed symptoms. All phytoplasma‐positive sugarcane and S. saccharivora samples showed identical RFLP patterns and had 99·89% similarity in their 16S/23S spacer‐region sequences, but only 92·6–93·6% similarity with other phytoplasmas. Sequences were deposited with GenBank [accession numbers: AY725237 ( S. saccharivora ) and AY257548 (sugarcane)]. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that the phytoplasmas from sugarcane and S. saccharivora are putative members of a new 16Sr phytoplasma group. This is the first report of vector transmission of a phytoplasma associated with sugarcane yellow leaf syndrome and the first time that S. saccharivora has been shown to vector a phytoplasma.