Summary: A method for detecting and assaying phytotoxins has been developed which depends on damage caused by toxins to cells in leaves of broad bean plants and the consequent production of black polyphenol oxidation products. The assay, which has the advantage of being relatively unaffected by components of complex microbial growth media, has been used to study the properties of a toxin produced by the plant-pathogenic mycoplasma Spiroplasma citri. The toxin is an unstable, acidic, polar compound of low molecular weight.
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