Hello, me again. I just got an email from someone with too much education
(SMILE):

The acyronym "MLO" refers to both "microplasma-like organism" AND
"mycoplasma-like organism", with the term "mycoplasma organism" being
sufficient and considered to be correct and up to date. Moreover, while the
root "myco" or "myc" means fungi in it's purist form, in this usage it does
not refer *only* to fungi, but forms of bacteria, Mollicutes (a subgroup of
bacteria) and perhaps other intracellular and extracellular organisms.

....and, yes, whatever it is, I too noticed the following line from the Bob
Gordon quote and though it was an important part of the pest manegment
problem:

"It may be a fungal disease and virus in combination, confusing the
diagnosis, (and here's the important part) ***but
there is little question that the disease weakens the plant and leaves it
susceptible to more common ailments***"

"al" wrote in message news:2tWNg.1992$FS.1358@trnddc04...
...a bunch of stuff