FIGURE 5.

BcBAG1 is required for conidial germination and penetration. (A) Time course of conidial germination on glass slides when conidia were suspended in 10 mM KH₂PO₄ and glucose solution (pH 6.0). CO, conidia; GT, germ tubes; HA, appressoria; IC, infection cushions. Scale bar: 20 μm. (B) Penetration assay on onion epidermal cells. Onion epidermal cells were inoculated with conidial suspension (5.0 × 10⁴ spores/ml) and the penetration was observed 48 h post incubation (hpi). External fungal structures are stained blue with cotton blue, whereas penetrated hyphae remain unstained. Scale bar: 20 μm. (C) Quantification of conidial germination rates after 12 hpi on hydrophobic glass slide. Error bars represent the standard deviations from three independent experiments (more than 100 conidia per strain). Asterisks denote statistical significance (P < 0.01).