Phytomonas staheliAssociated with Coconut and Oil Palm Diseases in Colombia

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Abstract
P. staheli was observed in tissues and in sap expressed from diseased coconut and African oil palms from 3 widely separated regions of Colombia. Light and transmission electron microscopy indicated these organisms in sieve tube elements of the phloem of root, bud, and inflorescence tissues. Flagellates were present in dwarf coconut palms with lethal wilt in Tumaco on the Pacific coast by the border with Ecuador, in mature African oil palms affected by sudden wilt disease (marchitez sorpresiva) in the Amazon basin, and in immature African oil palms with the case nine syndrome in north central Colombia. These organisms were morphologically indistinguishable from P. staheli, thus extending the geographic range of this suspected plant pathogen. Preliminary attempts to culture these organisms failed.