Hi, I'm studying phytoplasma related-diseases on palms and for proper description of a syndrome recently detected, I need to identify this palm to the species level. If more photos are needed of key characteristics, I can still take them and upload some. All I know is that is ornamental used in a garden outside a public plaza.
From leaf character, it is Phoenix species, but without flowers and fruits difficult to say which species. Check ornamental and cultivated species in Mexico. Only 14 species is found throughout the world.
You might wish to consult with Dr. Brian Bahder of the University of Florida, Fort Lauderdale Station. Dr. Bahder has a number of molecular tools to use in identifying palm phytopalsmas.
It is a Phoenix species but without sexual structures, species level identification from photographs is difficult.
Thank you all so much, Abdullah Abdullah yes I can, I'll have them by next week for sure! I'll check the plant for fruits also and see if I can take pictures of inflorescence.
The most likely species are Phoenix canariensis and Phoenix roebelenii as these are frequently planted outside their normal range as ornamentals. All of the 14 species in the genus Phoenix have a tendency to hybridize which makes species level determinations difficult especially in ornamental plants. The edible date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, is also widely planted for date production but your image depicts a much smaller tree. For this reason, the most likely species is Phoenix roebelenii, the pygmy date palm.
Hi Pablo,
That is a pygmy date palm, Phoenix roebelinii. Very common ornamental throughout Latin America (Florida also). We have found that it susceptible to 16SrIV-D phytoplasma. We only have A and D subgroups in Florida at the moment. I know you have more in your area, will be interesting to see which subgroup it is.
Thank you Clifford B Keil and Catherine V. Nnamani!!
Hello Dr. Brian Bahder , we highly suspect this is caused by the D subgroup but we'll do some tests in the future to confirm the diagnosis (for the moment the plant came positive from Real time PCR with a probe that doesn't distinguish from A or D subgroups), including sequencing of the phytoplasma DNA and in silico analysis. Thank you all for your help, Bye!
Hi Pablo,
Very exciting. Have you seen a lot of P. roebelinii declining in your area? We see a few specimens from time to time but overall we do not see rapid spread in that species of palm. Curious what trends you have noticed. I hope all goes well!
Brian
Dear Dr Brian Bahder , although relatively common in the newer residential areas of Merida and in parks and commercial plazas, this is the only the first specimen of a pigmy date palm that has called our attention; LYDs are highly active in the city of Merida, but by far the most common affected species are Adonidia merrillii, Thrinax radiata and the occasional Pritchardia planted here and there.
Hi Pablo José Palma Cancino , interesting, same trend. We have a couple of Adonidia infected here as well but not as common as what you are seeing. The Thrinax is interesting, we have not found it in Thrinax in FL. Would you be ok if I shared that with stakeholders here in FL? It is valuable information but I understand if you are waiting to publish. I will of course credit you and your research team but if it is infecting Thrinax in Mexico, it is only a matter of time before we find it in Thrinax here. Alternatively, we have isolated subgroup D from coconut here. Have you seen it in coconut there?
Brian Bahder , No, it's Ok, the fact that T. radiata is a host of both A & D subgroups has already been published by Vázquez-Euán et al. (2011) on "Occurrence of a 16SrIV Group Phytoplasma not Previously Associated with Palm Species in Yucatan, Mexico". My research is just trying to provide and update on which hosts are still active for LYDs (only in Yucatan of course) so you can use the information, no worries here. Based on observation only, that species is not that susceptible (to put in numbers, I've only detected 4 positives for my thesis, in about two and a half years, although we have been paying more attention to ornamentals lately), but considering that the first ones appeared on the mid 2000s (reported by CICY), I think that species is a constant source of phytoplasma inoculum at least here in Yucatan. I add a couple of pics in case you want to see the symptoms, but I warn you they are pretty bad. Regarding coconut, I'll soon be re-assessing coconut positive samples for D subgroups detection specifically, just to be sure, but based on symptoms I'm almost entirely positive that they are all A subgroup. Hope it helps. Looking forward to see what new research comes from Florida! Take care.
Hi Pablo José Palma Cancino thanks for the info and the photos, very helpful. As for coconut, we have sequenced samples at our research station from coconut and they come up as positive for the D subgroup. LY/subgroup A for some reason seems to have disappeared in FL and everything we have is subgroup D. This is very fascinating and we are working hard to better understand the biology of the pathogen. I have an idea for a project for all the 16SrIV phytoplasmas and would be interested to see if your research group would like to collaborate on the project. Can you email and I can go into detail, perhaps we could also arrange a phone conference?
Sure Brian Bahder , I'll send you a message with contact info. Best regards!
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