AbstractBrassica juncea var. tumida (tumorous stem mustard) is widely cultivated as a feature vegetable in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, and is used as a raw material for pickles in China. White blister rust, caused by Albugo candida, has severe negative effects on tumorous stem mustard, resulting in significant economic losses. In this study, hypha colonization and extension, haustorial formation, and the development process of sporogenous hyphae and sporangia in A. candida-infected tissues were studied using light and transmission electron microscopy. Additionally, the complex and unique sporogenous hypha developmental process was revealed. During A. candida infection, cytological and ultrastructural characteristics were similar to those of cruciferous plants. During sporogenous hyphae development, an initially cylindrical sporogenous hypha with a thin inner wall at the apex developed from a cell with a thick inner wall. At the apical end of the sporogenous hypha, an electron-dense complex gathered, causing the disintegration of the inner and outer walls and the formation of new inner and outer walls. With the formation of a clavate sporogenous hypha, a deep constriction of the cell wall occurred at its subapex, in which a septum was produced and a primary sporangium was separated from the sporogenous hypha. Both layers of the sporogenous hypha wall took part in the formation of the sporangial wall but were not related the formation of the sporangial outer wall in a septum, providing direct evidence of the holoblastic formation of sporangia. Furthermore, ultrastructural observation demonstrated that the development of the primary sporangial walls within a septum occurred later than that of their lateral walls, including the degradation of constricted outer walls around the septum, formation of the inner wall and subsequent outer walls of a sporangium in the upper septum layers, confirming the earlier observation. Therefore, this study provided the model of sporogenous hyphae development and sporangial formation in chain.
Response of interspecific Brassica juncea/Brassica rapa hybrids and their advanced progenies to Albugo candida (white blister)
