Ultrastructural changes in Cladosporium cucumerinum during pathogenesis

Abstract

Three ultrastructural patterns, each one associated with a different stage of pathogenesis, were observed in Cladosporium cucumerinum infecting cucumber cytoledons. (i) Fungal prepenetration structures (conidia and germ tubes) contained numerous lipid bodies. Microbodies were abundant and often associated with lipid bodies. Mitochondria were also abundant. (ii) During the invasion stage, no lipid bodies and relatively few microbodies were observed. Mitochondria were abundant, but differed markedly morphologically from those observed in the prepenetration structures. (iii) In the colonizing hyphae, microbodies were the most abundant organelle, lipid bodies were seldom found, and mitochondria were as observed during invasion. These changes in numbers of organelles may be associated with differences in the metabolic activities of the pathogen at various stages of pathogenesis.