FASCIATION OF SWEET PEAS

Abstract

A description is given of fasciation in a sweet pea plant, from which a strain of Agrobacterium tumefaciens (Smith and Townsend) Conn was isolated. Germinated and nongerminated sweet pea seed inoculated with the organism were grown in agar, sand, and soil. Fasciation, dwarfing, swollen roots and stems as well as yellowed and crinkled leaves were produced in most of the plants grown in agar and sand. Fewer plants grown in soil were affected. Microscopical examinations revealed organisms in fasciated areas, roots, and stems. The organisms were recovered in each case by plating with Congo red agar.Fasciation was not produced in garden pea plants although some plants were dwarfed. Typical galls were not produced on stems of sweet and garden pea plants by needle inoculations. A description of the organism is given and certain features of its action on sweet pea plants are discussed.