ABSTRACT
Before proceeding to isolate the bacterium from a diseased plant, it is desirable to confirm the presence of the bacterium in the affected tissues. If the infection is due to bacteria, a cloudy mass of bacterial cells will be seen oozing through the cut ends of the plant tissue pieces. In vascular infections, bacteria oozes out forcefully at distinct points corresponding to the vascular strands; in parenchymatous infections, the oozing of the bacteria is slow, diffused, and throughout the cut ends. Observe a strand of bacteria vigorously coming out of the infected cut portion, which turns the clear water to a whitish turbid or milky appearance. At times when the bacterial population is very low in the affected tissue, as in the case of young lesions of red stripe of sugarcane and Xanthomonas leaf spot of mung beans, distinct bacterial ooze may not be detected.
