Crotalaria witches’-broom phytoplasma (CrWB) collected from Hainan Province,was classified and identified by sequencing techniques and Virtual RFLP.Two different type universal primer pairs of phytoplasma were used to amplify a 1.8 kb fragment of 16S rDNA and a 1.3 kb fragment of rp gene.The PCR-amplified products were cloned and sequenced.The results of sequencing and homologuous comparison with other phytoplasmas showed that Crotalaria witches’-broom phytoplasma shared 99.9 % similarity with peanut witches’-broom phytoplasma in 16S rRNA gene and 99.9% in rp gene.Crotalaria witches’-broom phytoplasma is sorted into Peanut witches’-broom group(16SrII),16SrII-A,according to the results of Virtual RFLP of 16S rDNA,phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA and rp gene,which is related to Ca.Phytoplasma australasiae.
