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.