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Appl Environ Microbiol. 1981 August; 42(2): 357-363

Medium for Isolation and Growth of Bacteria Associated with Plum Leaf Scald and Phony Peach Diseases

¹ Southeastern Fruit and Tree Nut Research Laboratory, Science and Education Administration, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Byron, Georgia 31008
² Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis, California 95616

ABSTRACT

Rickettsia-like bacteria associated with plum leaf scald and phony peach diseases were isolated from diseased but not from healthy tissues and cultured on charcoal-yeast extract medium (BCYE) buffered with ACES (2-[(2-amino-2-oxoethyl) amino]-ethanesulfonic acid). Optimum conditions for isolation and growth on BCYE medium were pH 6.5 to 6.9 at 20 and 25°C under normal atmosphere. Growth of primary colonies and first-passage subcultures was restricted, and colonies reached a maximum diameter of 0.6 mm in 60 days. After 12 passages, subcultures reached maximum growth in 21 days. The rickettsia-like bacteria from BCYE cultures were gram negative, serologically the same as those present in diseased peach and plum, and composed of rod-shaped cells measuring 0.35 by 5 µm (average diameter and maximum length) in a matrix of filamentous strands of similar width but of variable length.