Figure 3

Distribution of OY phytoplasmas in the alimentary canal of M. striifrons. (A) Diagrammatic outline of the alimentary canal of M. striifrons. (B–G) Whole-mount immunofluorescence staining of the alimentary canal using Amp-Alexa Fluor 488 (green) and the actin dye phalloidin-Alexa Fluor 546 (red). (B) Alimentary canals of a non-infected leafhopper (a) and an OY-infected leafhopper that was consistently maintained on a diseased plant for more than 1 month (b). (C–G) Luminal side of anterior midguts of OY-infected leafhoppers at 7 daas (C) and muscle side at 14 (D), 21 (E), and 28 (F,G) daas. Images (a,b) in panels C–F are two representative images from the same daas. Image b in panels C–F, and images in panel G, were obtained along the xy plane (square photos) or along yz and xz planes (vertical and horizontal rectangular photos, respectively). Rectangular photos were reconstructed from Z-stacks of confocal images, indicated by yellow dashed vertical and horizontal lines in square photos. Gray lines extending from rectangular photos indicate positions of square photos from Z-stacks. All images are representative of more than three experiments. es, esophagus; fc, filter chamber; amg, anterior midgut; mmg, middle midgut; pmg, posterior midgut; hg, hindgut; mt, Malpighian tubules; me, midgut epithelium; mv, microvilli; vm, visceral muscle; cm, circular muscle; lm, longitudinal muscle. Bar, 100 µm (B), 25 µm (C–G).