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Mycoplasmalike Bodies Associated with Witches’-Broom of Bleeding Heart. C. Hiruki, Associate Professor, Department of Plant Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; P. Shukla, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Plant Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Phytopathology 63:88-92. Accepted for publication 12 July 1972. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-63-88.

Petiole and stem tissues of bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis) showing witches’-broom were examined with light and electron microscopes. Mycoplasmalike bodies were detected in the phloem elements, but were absent in the control healthy plants. These bodies were 50-600 nm in diam, and surrounded by unit membranes. Abnormal accumulation of callose in affected phloem cells, as compared with healthy ones, was observed by fluorescence microscopy. The constant association of these bodies with witches’-broom-affected plants suggested that they may be involved in the etiology of the disease.