Tanne, E., Department of Virology, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Kuznetsova, L., Department of Virology, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Cohen, J., Department of Virology, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Alexandrova, S., Department of Virology, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Gera, A., Department of Virology, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel

Recently, yellows diseases have become more common in Israel, and phytoplasmas have been detected in some of these diseased crops. Commercial fields of two celosia species (Celosia plumosa L. and C. cristata L.) also have exhibited yellows symptoms and total crop failure. Typical mycoplasma-llke bodies were observed in infected but not in healthy plants. The same plants were analyzed for the presence of phytoplasma by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), using the universal oligonucleotide pair r16SF2/r16SR2, followed by nested PCR using group-specific primers. Restriction analyses performed with these products indicated that two different types of phytoplasmas are infecting celosia. PCR-RFLP analysis of one type revealed a restriction pattern typical of aster yellows. Similar analysis of the second type indicated possible relatedness, though not identity, to the pattern of phytoplasmas of the Western-X group. This is, to our knowledge, the first report of phytoplasma infection in celosia.