Effect of temperature on melanization and myceliogenic germination of sclerotia of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

While sclerotia of the normal strain of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum produced on potato-dextrose agar at 7, 16, and 30 °C were black, the color of sclerotia of the aberrant strain was light brown, brown or tan, and dark brown or greyish black under 7, 16, and 30 °C, respectively. In the normal strain, deposition of melanin substance was heavy both on the surface and inside the cell walls of the rind of black sclerotia formed at 16 and 30 °C, but in sclerotia formed at 7 °C, many of the rind cells were unmelanized or partially melanized. In sclerotia from the aberrant strain, an electron-dense material, smaller than the melanin particles of the black sclerotia, was present in trace amounts or absent in light-brown sclerotia formed at 7 °C, but it was more abundant in dark-brown or greyish black sclerotia formed at 30 °C. Despite marked differences in color, sclerotia of the aberrant strain produced at the three temperatures were capable of undergoing myceliogenic germination on moist sand. It is concluded that temperature affects cell wall melanization during sclerotial morphogenesis, and that myceliogenic germination of sclerotia of S. sclerotiorum was affected by the black pigment but was unaffected by the color intensity of the brown pigment.