Isolation ofAcholeplasma spp. from coconut palms affected by lethal yellowing disease in Jamaica

A total of 35 isolates ofAcholeplasma spp. were recovered from phloem sap and rotting tissues of lethal yellowing-diseased coconut palms. The highest isolation rate, 33% of samples from two palms, was obtained in a conventional mycoplasma medium supplemented with Tween 80; no isolates were recovered from healthy palm tissues or from uninoculated media constituents. Metabolic and serological tests on uncloned isolates showed that about two-thirds were strains ofA. axanthum and the remainder were related toA. oculi. These results strongly suggest that acholeplasmas occur in or on plant tissues either as pathogens, epiphytes, or saprophytes.