Resumen
- “Crespera” is an infectious disease of coffee plants that affects both the coffee production and theeconomy of the coffee producer countries. This disease affects morphologically the plant: long and narrowleaves with wavy borders and marginal necrosis; strong chlorosis results in drying of the leave, and leads to badconditions of the plant. The internodes are short, producing the appearance of multiple sprouts in the axialsprout, the flowers can turn greenish, and the plant can present branches with severe symptoms, and brancheswithout apparent symptoms at the same time. As a result, the coffee bean production decreases strikingly. Theaim of this work was to determine the occurrence of the possible causative agent in the coffee plants using trans-mission electron microscopy. Normal and infected plants were compared looking at the leaves, central vein, lat-eral veins and petiole. It was determined that xylematic vessels show the presence of gram negative bacilliformbacteria (of thick-wavy walls), with dimensions of 0.3-0.5 μ m diameter and 1-4 μ m, length. The control plantsdid not show bacteria in the xylem.