Figure 1.

Knufia petricolaA95 morphology. A- Being a typical MCF, K. petricola A95 retains protective pigmentation and restricted colony growth even under favourable growth conditions on a Petri dish; B - As a result of a spontaneous mutation, the A95 pink mutant (A95p) is deficient in melanin synthesis. The orange/red colour is caused by carotenoids that are normally masked by melanins. C- Micrograph of A95 cells with melanin. The ball-shaped, compact A95 cells are surrounded by a thick cell-wall and are embedded in extracellular polymeric substances that are arranged in compact clusters of cells. D- A95 protoplasts prepared from similar cells to those shown in Figure 1C. A95 protoplasts were most effectively isolated by digestion of the cell-wall using lysing enzymes from Trichoderma harzianum and prevented from bursting in a 1M KCl buffer.