Anatomy of gummosis affected stem
To analyze changes in anatomy of the wood, 1 cm3cuboid wood samples were drawn from each of 10 diseased and healthy trees selected at random. Wood close to the infected area from the diseased tree and that from healthy trees (of similar stem diameter and at the same height) was sampled and stored. Transverse, radial and tangential sections of the stem (10-15 μm thick) were cut using a sledge microtome. The sections were then soaked in lactophenol cotton blue for 1 hr, washed in distilled water, dried and added with a drop of xylol. The sections were then gently warmed to remove water and xylol and mounted on slides using Canada balsam or Entellan. The sections were observed under a light microscope (BX51, Olympus Corporation, Japan), photographed using a digital camera (DP 70, Olympus Corporation, Japan) and the dimensions of fibers and parenchyma cells measured using digital images.