Ultrastructure of freeze-substituted appressoria produced by aeciospore germlings of the rust fungus Arthuriomyces peckianus

1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (8) ◽  
pp. 1655-1665 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. C. Swann ◽  
C. W. Mims

Aeciospores of Arthuriomyces peckianus germinated readily on moist strips of dialysis membrane and developing appressoria were observed within 3 to 6 h after spores were deposited on membranes. A single germ tube typically emerged from each binucleate spore and grew until its tip contacted the dialysis membrane. The germ tube tip was then transformed into a swollen appressorium that adhered tightly to the membrane, apparently as a result of an extracellular material that surrounded the appressorium base. Virtually all the spore cytoplasm and both nuclei moved into the germ tube and developing appressorium. Following a synchronous mitotic division of the two nuclei, a septum formed to delimit the now tetranucleate appressorium from the germ tube. As the appressorium matured, an apparently wall-less region developed in the central portion of the appressorium appressed against the dialysis membrane. In this region the fungus plasma membrane appeared to make direct contact with the underlying dialysis membrane. A funnel-like or cone-like structure referred to as the appressorial cone then developed in the wall-less region. The appressorial cone extended up into the cytoplasm of the appressorium and was lined by the fungal plasma membrane. Numerous branched elaborations of the plasma membrane were associated with the inner portion of the cone. Key words: rust fungus, infection structures, electron microscopy.


1997 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. W. Mims ◽  
M. A. Rogers ◽  
C. G. Van Dyke

Transmission electron microscopy of plunge-frozen and freeze-substituted samples was used to examine germinating conidia of Alternaria cassiae, a plant pathogenic fungus used as a biological control agent for sicklepod (Cassia obtusifolia). Hydrated conidia on small pieces of dialysis membrane were incubated for 1, 2, or 3 h on the surface of corn meal agar prior to fixation. Conidia were large, darkly pigmented, and surrounded by a thick, two-layered wall. Each conidium was divided by transverse and longitudinal septa into multiple cells, a few of which sometimes appeared necrotic. Each septum tapered to a small central pore region with which Woronin bodies were associated. Each healthy cell of a conidium contained a typical complement of cellular organelles including multiple nuclei. With the exception of lipid bodies, all the various organelles were well preserved by plunge freezing and freeze substitution. Evidence of germ tube development was visible by 2 h post-incubation and well-developed germ tubes were present by 3 h. Two modes of germ tube development were observed. In the less common mode germ tubes developed inside conidia and grew internally through one or more adjacent cells before emerging from the conidium surface. Cells penetrated by internal germ tubes appeared necrotic. In the more common mode of germination, germ tubes developed directly from the conidium surface. Multiple germ tubes usually arose from each conidium and grew out in all directions. Germ tubes that contacted the underlying dialysis membrane continued to grow along its surface. Extracellular material was produced in association with developing germ tubes and coated the sides of germinated conidia and covered germ tubes growing along membranes. Key words: transmission electron microscopy, cryofixation, freeze substitution, germ tube development.



1970 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qinghua Zhu ◽  
Xuecheng Zhang ◽  
KKIU Arunakumara

Transmission Electron Microscopy of 35 day old culture of Cladosiphon okamuranus Tokida, revealed several chloroplasts and other organelles in each cell of assimilatory filaments. Each chloroplast possesses single pyrenoid and Lipid bodies while in hair cells, there were few chloroplasts clinging to plasma-membrane and many pathholes were seen in the cell wall. Key words: Cladosiphon okamuranus; Brown algae; Ultrastructure; Pathhole DOI: 10.3329/bjb.v38i2.5143 Bangladesh J. Bot. 38(2): 177-180, 2009 (December)  



2005 ◽  
Vol 83 (5) ◽  
pp. 451-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
C W Mims ◽  
E A Richardson

A combination of light, scanning, and transmission electron microscopy was used to examine teliospores and teliospore germination in the rust fungus Coleosporium ipomoeae (Schw.) Burrill, a parasite of the wild morning glory Ipomoea coccinea L. Telia developed on abaxial surfaces of infected leaves and appeared as orange, waxy crusts usually associated with uredinia. Mature teliospores were cylindrical to slightly clavate in shape and thin-walled. The presence of chitin in the spore wall was demonstrated using wheat germ agglutinin gold labeling. Teliospores were surrounded by an electron-dense extracellular material. Each spore possessed a large prominent nucleus containing synaptonemal complexes indicative of prophase I meiotic nuclei. Following hydration, the nucleus of each spore completed meiosis and the spore was divided into four uninucleate compartments by the formation of three transverse septa. Each compartment gave rise to a germ tube into which the nucleus and cytoplasm migrated. Germ tubes developed into long slender sterigmata that grew through the extracellular material within the telium to become exposed on the leaf surface. A basidiospore then developed at the tip of each sterigma. Once the nucleus moved from the sterigma into the spore, a septum formed to delimit the spore from the tip of the sterigma.Key words: fungal spores, transmission and scanning electron microscopy, high pressure freezing.



Author(s):  
T. G. Sarphie ◽  
C. R. Comer ◽  
D. J. Allen

Previous ultrastructural studies have characterized surface morphology during norma cell cycles in an attempt to associate specific changes with specific metabolic processes occurring within the cell. It is now known that during the synthetic ("S") stage of the cycle, when DNA and other nuclear components are synthesized, a cel undergoes a doubling in volume that is accompanied by an increase in surface area whereby its plasma membrane is elaborated into a variety of processes originally referred to as microvilli. In addition, changes in the normal distribution of glycoproteins and polysaccharides derived from cell surfaces have been reported as depreciating after cellular transformation by RNA or DNA viruses and have been associated with the state of growth, irregardless of the rate of proliferation. More specifically, examination of the surface carbohydrate content of synchronous KB cells were shown to be markedly reduced as the cell population approached division Comparison of hamster kidney fibroblasts inhibited by vinblastin sulfate while in metaphase with those not in metaphase demonstrated an appreciable decrease in surface carbohydrate in the former.



Author(s):  
M. A. Hayat

Potassium permanganate has been successfully employed to study membranous structures such as endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi, plastids, plasma membrane and myelin sheath. Since KMnO4 is a strong oxidizing agent, deposition of manganese or its oxides account for some of the observed contrast in the lipoprotein membranes, but a good deal of it is due to the removal of background proteins either by dehydration agents or by volatalization under the electron beam. Tissues fixed with KMnO4 exhibit somewhat granular structure because of the deposition of large clusters of stain molecules. The gross arrangement of membranes can also be modified. Since the aim of a good fixation technique is to preserve satisfactorily the cell as a whole and not the best preservation of only a small part of it, a combination of a mixture of glutaraldehyde and acrolein to obtain general preservation and KMnO4 to enhance contrast was employed to fix plant embryos, green algae and fungi.





1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 580-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinliang Li ◽  
I. Brent Heath ◽  
K.-J. Cheng

Orpinomyces bovis, a polycentric gut fungus isolated from a steer, was examined with both light and electron microscopy and renamed Orpinomyces joyonii comb.nov. on the basis of its general morphology and zoospore ultrastructure. The multinucleate rhizomycelium is extensively branched, and sporangia form exogenously on branched or unbranched sporangiophores. The organelles in the zoospores have a distribution pattern typical of other gut fungi, i.e., anterior ribosomal aggregates, central nuclei, and posterior presumptive hydrogenosomes. The perikinetosomal apparatus in O. joyonii is comparable to that in monocentric gut fungi but with minor variations. New details of the posterior dome are described. It contains highly ordered specialized lamellae, peripheral granules, and megatubules. Microtubules intersect the dome predominantly at approximately right angles to its surface; this differs from monocentric gut fungi, in which microtubules form a posterior fan running parallel to the dome. We suggest that both monocentric and polycentric gut fungi are monophyletic, since both have a similar, distinctive perikinetosomal apparatus, posterior dome, and organelle distribution pattern. Key words: Orpinomyces joyonii, gut fungi, ultrastructure, posterior dome, perikinetosomal apparatus.



1996 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.I. Martí ◽  
E Del Cacho ◽  
A. Josa ◽  
E. Espinosa ◽  
T. Muiño-Blanco


1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
James W. Kimbrough ◽  
Jack L. Gibson

Cytological observations are made on apothecial tissues of Geopyxis carbonaria, using transmission electron microscopy. Characteristic features of both the medullary and ectal excipula are examined. Changes in ascus apex and wall structures are examined during ascus ontogeny, especially in relation to operculum position and structure. Ultrastructure of septum configuration is observed and compared in the excipulum, ascogenous hyphae, paraphyses, and at the base of young asci. Ascosporogenesis is observed from the ascus mother cell stage and initial spore delimitation until secondary wall formation. The cytological and ultrastructural observations on this species are discussed in relation to their possible taxonomic or phylogenetic value. Key words: ascosporogenesis, Discomycetes, ascospore ultrastructure, septal ultrastructure, cytochemistry.



1996 ◽  
Vol 109 (6) ◽  
pp. 1215-1227 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Hemery ◽  
A.M. Durand-Schneider ◽  
G. Feldmann ◽  
J.P. Vaerman ◽  
M. Maurice

In hepatocytes, newly synthesized apical plasma membrane proteins are first delivered to the basolateral surface and are supposed to reach the apical surface by transcytosis. The transcytotic pathway of apical membrane proteins and its relationship with other endosomal pathways has not been demonstrated morphologically. We compared the intracellular route of an apical plasma membrane protein, B10, with that of polymeric IgA (pIgA), which is transcytosed, transferrin (Tf) which is recycled, and asialoorosomucoid (ASOR) which is delivered to lysosomes. Ligands and anti-B10 monoclonal IgG were linked to fluorochromes or with peroxidase. The fate of each ligand was followed by confocal and electron microscopy in polarized primary monolayers of rat hepatocytes. When fluorescent anti-B10 IgG and fluorescent pIgA were simultaneously endocytosed for 15–30 minutes, they both uniformly labelled a juxtanuclear compartment. By 30–60 minutes, they reached the bile canaliculi. Tf and ASOR were also routed to the juxtanuclear area, but their fluorescence patterns were more punctate. Microtubule disruption prevented all ligands from reaching the juxtanuclear area. This area corresponded, at least partially, to the localization of the mannose 6-phosphate receptor, an endosomal marker. By electron microscopy, the juxtanuclear compartment was made up of anastomosing tubules connected to vacuoles, and was organized around the centrioles. B10 and pIgA were mainly found in the tubules, whereas ASOR was segregated inside the vacuolar elements and Tf within thinner, recycling tubules. In conclusion, transcytosis of the apical membrane protein B10 occurs inside tubules similar to those carrying pIgA, and involves passage via the pericentriolar area. In the pericentriolar area, the transcytotic tubules appear to maintain connections with other endosomal elements where sorting between recycled and degraded ligands occurs.



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