Phytoplasma and Liberibacter Diseases

Crop diseases caused by bacteria that live only in the phloem, the sugar-carrying tubes of a plant, namely the phytoplasmas, which have no cell wall, and the Candidatus Liberibacter species. A disease belongs here when its cited article names a phytoplasma or a Liberibacter as the causal organism. These bacteria cannot be grown easily in the laboratory and are carried from plant to plant by sap-feeding insects such as leafhoppers and psyllids, so the range of the insect vector largely sets the range of the disease. They cause yellowing, stunting, distorted growth and decline, and there is usually no cure for an infected plant. Management combines vector control, clean planting material and removal of infected plants. This heading gathers them so a visitor can compare their hosts and vectors.