The identity of phytoplasmas detected in strawberry plants with green petal (SGP) and lethal yellows (SLY) diseases was determined by RFLP analysis of the 16S rRNA gene and adjacent spacer region (SR). RFLP and sequence comparisons indicated that the phytoplasmas associated with SGP and SLY were indistinguishable and were most closely related to ‘
Candidatus
Phytoplasma australiense’, the phytoplasma associated with Australian grapevine yellows, papaya dieback and
Phormium
yellow leaf diseases. This taxon lies within the aster yellows strain cluster. Primers based on the phytoplasma
tuf
gene, which amplify only members of the AY strain cluster, amplified a DNA product from the SGP and SLY phytoplasmas. Primers deduced from the 16S rRNA/SR of P. australiense that amplify only members of this taxon amplified rDNA sequences from the SGP and SLY phytoplasmas. Primers that selectively amplify members of the faba bean phyllody (FBP) phytoplasma group, the most commonly occurring phytoplasma group in Australia, did not amplify rDNA from the SGP and SLY phytoplasmas.