Changes in Structure of Phytomonas elmassiani in Experimental Infections of Apocynaceae, a Presumably Foreign Plant Host

SYNOPSIS. Allamanda nereifolia and Plumeria rubra, plants belonging to the family Apocynaceae were infected experimentally with the trypanosomatid flagellate, Phytomonas elmassiani. In these presumably exotic hosts, P. elmassiani, ordinarily infecting plants belonging to the family Asclepiadaceae, underwent marked structural changes. The presence of numerous choanomastigote like organisms along with a certain proportion of promastigotes and amastigotes, would, under ordinary circumstances, result in classification of the infecting organisms as Crithidia. Obviously, the change in environment from Asclepiadaceae to the closely related Apocynaceae, exerts a profound influence on structure of the organism.