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AbstractmThe ultrastructure of the vascular cambium of Robinia pseudoacacia L. was examined in trunk tissues collected over a 2 1 ⁄2 year period. During dormancy, fusiform cells are densely cytoplasmic with many small vacuoles and centrally located nuclei. Mitochondria are round to oval in sectional view. The plastids are variable in shape, have few internal membranes, and generally lack starch grains. The plasmalemma is smooth in outline. Proteinaceous material occurs in the vacuoles and many lipid droplets are scattered throughout the ground substance.Smooth tubular ER, often highly dilated, predominates, but short segments of rough ER are also present. Abundant free ribosomes are evenly distributed throughout the ground substance and the dictyosomes are inactive. Microtubules are parietal and have various orientations. During reactivation, the plasmalemma becomes irregular in outline and begins to form invaginations. Concurrently, the proteinaceous material disappears, the vacuoles begin to fuse, polysomes appear, and the dictyosomes begin to produce vesicles. During the period of cambial activity, fusiform cells are highly vacuolate, and the nuclei are centrally located. The mitochondria are round, oval, or elongate. Now the plastids contain phytoferritin, starch grains, or both. Many large invaginations of the plasmalemma intrude into the vacuole, pushing the tonoplast inward and pinching off into the vacuole, which lacks proteinaceous material. Lipid droplets are scarce. Most ER is rough, and ribosomes are generally aggregated as polysomes. Dictyosomes are actively producing vesicles. During the transition to dormancy, the fusiform cells gradually assume the appearance typical of the dormant cambium.

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In 1998, soft rot caused by Erwinia chrysanthemi resulted in an estimated loss of 1,800 tons of carrots in California. The disease appeared to be related to unusually high temperatures and excessive irrigation. To determine the optimum conditions for development of soft rot under controlled conditions, pots of carrots inoculated with E. chrysanthemi were saturated with water and incubated at 20, 25, 30, or 35°C. Plants were harvested and examined for disease 12, 24, 36, 48, 72, and 96 h after inoculation. Negligible disease occurred after 12 h. Disease severity and incidence increased with increasing temperature and duration of saturation from 24 to 96 h. In a second experiment, carrot disks were inoculated with three isolates each of E. chrysanthemi and E. carotovora subsp. carotovora and incubated at 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35°C. After 48 h, the disks were washed to remove rotted tissue and reweighed. Neither bacterium reduced carrot disk weight at 15°C. In general, moderate weight reduction occurred at 20 and 25°C. The greatest degree of soft rot was caused by E. chrysanthemi at 30 and 35°C. E. carotovora subsp. carotovora isolates were relatively less virulent than E. chrysanthemi at 30°C and none of the E. carotovora subsp. carotovora isolates reduced carrot disk weight at 35°C. This is the first report of E. chrysanthemi causing soft rot of carrot in California. Based on these results, growers should limit the length of time carrot roots are exposed to saturated soil, especially at high soil temperatures.

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