Transmission by dodder of sandal spike disease and the accompanying mycoplasma-like organisms via Vinca rosea

Abstract

Healthy Vinca rosea plants, connected by dodder strands with spike-diseased sandal trees developed witches' broom symptoms. Electron microscopy of petioles of the infected Vinca plants revealed the presence of numerous mycoplasma-like bodies. Fresh dodder established on the Vinca plants with witches' broom symptoms and trained onto healthy sandal trees, transmitted the spike disease back to the latter.

An anomalous form of mycoplasma-like bodies in periwinkle infected with the sandal spike agent

“…to those reported previously (Dijkstra and Ie, 1969;Dijkstra and Lee, 1972;Hull et al, 1969Hull et al, , 1970. While one part of the tissue, presumably consisting of functioning cells, contained normal bodies, the other probably defunct part was packed with anomalous bodies only.…”

“…The sandal spike agent was introduced to potted seedlings of periwinkle (Vinea rosea 'Bright Eyes') by means of dodder (Cuscuta subinclusa) in an insect proof greenhouse, as described previously (Dijkstra and Lee, 1972).…”

A histochemical study on sandal (Santalum album) affected with spike disease and its diagnostic value

“…At the time of this study the upper part of the tree was completely diseased, whereas some of the lower branches still bore normal leaves and flowers ( Another tree developed spike symptoms about 16 weeks after strands of dodder (Cuseuta subinelusa), established on spike-diseased Vinca plants, were trairted onto it (for more details see Dijkstra and Lee, 1972). After some lower branches had died the rest of the tree did not show any more visible symptoms of the disease at the time of this investigation.…”

A comparative study of fluorescence in stems of Vinca rosea infected with mycoplasmas of different plant origins

“…Further transmission in Vinca was by wedge-grafting. Descriptions of certain diseases included in this investigation appeared elsewhere (Dijkstra and Lee, 1972;Giannotti and Delattre, 1972;Giannotti et al, 1968Marchoux et al, 1969Marchoux et al, , 1972Morvan et al, 1973).…”

“…Except sandal spike (Dijkstra and Lee, 1972) the disease samples were ~elected from a collection of yellows diseases maintained in Station de Cytopathologie, St-Christol, France. The mycoplasmas, except those of Vinca yellows, were first transferred to Vinea plants by means of Cuseuta subinclusa.…”