Ramu stunt disease explained

Ramu stunt disease
Common Names:	Sugarcane Ramu stunt disease
Causal Agents:	virus or bacterium
Hosts:	sugarcane
Vectors:	Eumetopina flavipes
Distribution:	Papua New Guinea
Symptoms:	Stunt

The Ramu stunt disease is a disease of the sugarcane widespread throughout Papua New Guinea, but not detected in Australia. Eumetopina flavipes, the island sugarcane planthopper, is a species of planthopper present throughout South East Asia which is a vector for the disease.

It was first detected in the 1980s. It is thought to be either of viral origin^[1] or associated with a Phytoplasma bacterium.^[2]

See also

• Ramu, a river in northern Papua New Guinea
• Stunt (botany), a plant disease that results in dwarfing and loss of vigor

Notes and References

1. Detection by next generation sequencing of a multi-segmented viral genome from sugarcane associated with Ramu stunt disease. Mollov D, Maroon-Lango C and Kuniata L, Virus Genes, 2016 Feb, 52(1), pages 152-155,
2. The Phytoplasma Associated with Ramu Stunt Disease of Sugarcane Is Closely Related to the White Leaf Phytoplasma Group. C. P. R. Cronjé and R. A. Bailey, Plant disease, June 1999, Volume 83, Number 6, Page 588,