Studies on Bacterium Fascians*

Abstract
Seedlings were treated with cell‐free filtrates of cultures of Bad. fascians, Bad. tumefaciens and other bacterial species, and the effects on the growth noted and compared with malformations resulting from the inoculation of living bacteria. The power to produce or destroy growth‐promoting substances in various culture fluids by Bad. fascians was examined and compared with that of other bacterial species. It is suggested that seedlings infected by Bad. fascians produce ‘leafy‐galls’ or ‘dwarfing’ owing to a disturbance of the normal auxin content or distribution in the plant.