Table 2. Vegetative growth, conidial morphology, and virulence of the FgHSP90-repressed mutants.
| Strain | Radial growth (mm) | Conidial morphology | Virulence (disease index) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CM | CM β-est | YMA | YMA β-est | - | β-est | |||||
| Length (μm) | Width (μm) | No. of septa | Length (μm) | Width (μm) | No. of septa | |||||
| Z-3639 | 63.5 | 48.6 | 53.0 | 5.8 | 4.5 | 54.5 | 5.8 | 4.7 | 11.5 | 9.1 |
| HK226-6 | 12.6* | 34.6* | 62.6* | 5.5* | 4.9* | 60.6* | 5.7 | 5.0* | 0.7* | 0.6* |
| HK226-8 | 10.8* | 33.1* | 65.5* | 5.6* | 4.9* | 64.8* | 6.1 | 5.0* | 0.6* | 0.9* |
Radial growth was measured 3 days after inoculation. Conidia were harvested from a 1-day-old culture in yeast malt agar (YMA). The disease index (number of diseased spikelets per wheat head) of the strains was measured 21 days after inoculation. CM, complete medium; β-est, β-estradiol.
*data differed significantly (P < 0.05) based on Tukey’s test within each column; Z-3639, F. graminearum wild-type strain; HK226, F. graminearum FgHSP90-repressed strains.