VIEW ARTICLE

Etiology

Transmission of the Organism Associated with Citrus Greening Disease from Sweet Orange to Periwinkle by Dodder. Monique Garnier, Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire, INRA et Université de Bordeaux II, Domaine de la Grande Ferrade, 33140 Pont De La Maye, France; Joseph M. Bové, Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire, INRA et Université de Bordeaux II, Domaine de la Grande Ferrade, 33140 Pont De La Maye, France. Phytopathology 73:1358-1363. Accepted for publication 7 March 1983. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1983. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-73-1358.

One of four periwinkle (Vinca rosea) plants connected by dodder (Cuscuta campestris) to a cultivar Madame Vinous sweet orange seedling infected with greening disease developed yellowing symptoms within 3 mo. Observations by electron microscopy of thin sections of leaf midribs of the plant with yellow symptoms revealed the presence of bacterialike organisms in the sieve tubes. These microorganisms were morphologically and ultrastructurally indistinguishable from those found in tissues of greening-affected citrus. From these observations we conclude that the greening organism was transmitted from affected citrus to periwinkle by dodder. Transmission from periwinkle to periwinkle was subsequently achieved by graft inoculation.