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Mycoplasmalike Bodies in Sieve Tubes of Pear Trees Affected with Pear Decline. Hiroyuki Hibino, Visiting Assistant Plant Pathologist, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Riverside 92502; Henry Schneider, Plant Pathologist, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Riverside 92502. Phytopathology 60:499-501. Accepted for publication 20 October 1969. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-60-499.

Leaf veins of pear decline-affected trees (Pyrus sp. ‘Variolosa’) were examined with the electron microscope. Mycoplasmalike bodies were found in the sieve tubes of swollen brown veins of old leaves, but were not abundant in newly formed leaves before the brown discoloration appeared. Absence of mycoplasmalike bodies in healthy pear trees suggested a possible role of these bodies in the etiology of pear decline.