Association of Bacillus subtilis L-forms with
strawberry plants
A total of 20 petioles and ®ve stolons on each of four separate strawberry plants each received injections of 500 ml Lform
inoculum at a single site less than 5 cm from its attachment to the mother plant. BS1 L-forms were prepared
by centrifugation (2000 g, 10 min; Chilspin; MSE) of exponential cultures in LPB, resuspended in 5% (w/v)
mannitol. Four control plants were exposed to identical treatments using mannitol only. All plants were maintained in the glasshouse. Petiole sections (4 cm including the injection site) were harvested immediately (t 0) and at 1,
2 and 3 d after treatment. Stolon samples were harvested after 7 d. Each stolon was separated into three 4-cm sections:
injection site, 18±22 cm and 38±42 cm from the injection site, i.e. towards the developing daughter plants