The 1179-bp nucleotide sequences had 100%identity among
the sequences from the four varieties (JX290545, JX290546,
JX290547 and JX290548) and 99 % nucleotide sequence
identity with 16S rRNA gene sequences of 16SrI (‘Candidatus
phytoplasma asteris’) phytoplasmas infecting the graminae
family including rice orange leaf phytoplasma from the Philippines (AB052870), Maize bushy stunt phytoplasma
(AY265208), Oat proliferation phytoplasma (AF 453416) and
Wheat blue dwarf phytoplasma (DQ078304) (Fig. 3)