As a representative of Psyllid I selected Psylla mali, which, feeding on the apple tree, was easily available for investigation, and also for confirmatory work by other investigators. Profft¹ has published the best account that has appeared on symbiosis in this group of insects. On p. 312, in Fig. 19, he illustrates a section of the bacteriotome, called by him, in conformity with others, a mycetome. Unfortunately, the magnification of the section is only 165, which is exceptionally low for any cytological study. Further, he does not give any illustration of the symbiotes as seen in a smear of the tumour. In his illustration the majority of the tumour cells contain curved dark-staining objects. When I studied them in smears, stained with Giemsa, they appeared to be thick comma-shaped bacteria.

Affiliations

1. Research Institute, Osmania University, Hyderabad. March 5.

   • S. MAHDIHASSAN

To obtain permission to re-use content from this article visit RightsLink.

Publication history

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1038/159749b0

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.