The fine structure and development of chlamydospores of Fusarium oxysporum

Abstract

Methods have been developed for the rapid, reproducible induction of high-density populations of F. oxysporum chlamydospores. On transferring washed pregerminated conidia to a simple two-salts medium, chlamydospore morphogenesis was evident by 12 h and masses of mature spores could be harvested at the end of 4 days. Electron-microscope studies of thin sections of mature chlamydospores reveal a thick triple-layered cell wall. The cytoplasm contains, in addition to large lipid deposits, a nucleus, mitochondria, and endoplasmic reticulum all typical of fungal cells. Chlamydospores of F. oxysporum exhibit two distinct types of cell surface in thin section. The outer wall layer of two of the isolates studied was smooth-surfaced while the outer layer of the two other isolates was distinctly fibrillose. Some evidence is presented suggesting that the fibrillose material arises through the partial breakdown of the original hyphal wall.