Multigene Sequence Analysis Reveals Occurrence of Genetic Variability in Candidatus Liberibacter Asiaticus Associated with Huanglongbing of Western and North-Eastern India

Huanglongbing (HLB) caused by three species of proteobacterium ‘Candidatus Liberibacter’ is an enormously destructive disease of citrus crops worldwide. ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas)’ causes HLB in Asian countries. Its association with different citrus cultivars from varied locations of Western and North-Eastern India was explored in the present study. To investigate genetic diversity and relationships between isolates, the 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA), 16S–23S rDNA intergenic spacer region, the outer membrane protein (OMP) gene and the ribosomal protein gene (rplA-rplJ) were characterized. CLas isolates of the present study shared sequence identities of 99–100