Abstract
To study spore attachment of the cucurbit pathogen Nectria haematococca (anamorph, Fusarium solani f. sp. cucurbitae), mutants with adhesion-deficient macroconidia were isolated. The adhesion-deficient mutants were selected after treatment with N-methyl-N′ -nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine followed by repeated enrichment for macroconidia which did not attach to polystyrene. Two independently derived mutants produced macroconidia with an approximately 50% reduction in attachment to polystyrene and to zucchini fruits. When macroconidia were inoculated into wounded zucchini fruits, the adhesion-deficient mutants were as virulent as the wild-type strain. However, in disease assays in which macroconidia were deposited onto the surface of unwounded zucchini, the mutants were less virulent than the wild type. Thus, adhesion of N. haematococca macroconidia to its host surface appears to be a virulence factor.
Full text
PDF
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Avalos J., Casadesús J., Cerdá-Olmedo E. Gibberella fujikuroi mutants obtained with UV radiation and N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1985 Jan;49(1):187–191. doi: 10.1128/aem.49.1.187-191.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hamer J. E., Howard R. J., Chumley F. G., Valent B. A mechanism for surface attachment in spores of a plant pathogenic fungus. Science. 1988 Jan 15;239(4837):288–290. doi: 10.1126/science.239.4837.288. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hamer J. E., Valent B., Chumley F. G. Mutations at the smo genetic locus affect the shape of diverse cell types in the rice blast fungus. Genetics. 1989 Jun;122(2):351–361. doi: 10.1093/genetics/122.2.351. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Woloshuk C. P., Kolattukudy P. E. Mechanism by which contact with plant cuticle triggers cutinase gene expression in the spores of Fusarium solani f. sp. pisi. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Mar;83(6):1704–1708. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.6.1704. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Young D. H., Kauss H. Adhesion of Colletotrichum lindemuthianum Spores to Phaseolus vulgaris Hypocotyls and to Polystyrene. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1984 Apr;47(4):616–619. doi: 10.1128/aem.47.4.616-619.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]