Summary
Four fruticose lichens of different genera, all belonging to the cyanolichen familyLichinaceae were studied by ultrathin sectioning and freeze-fracturing/-etching in order to see details in the structure of the photobiont-mycobiont interface. Within the haustorial region, the fibrillar sheath of the photobiont was almost absent and the thickness of the fungal cell wall was strongly reduced.
The wavy outline of the cytoplasmic membrane in haustorial cells, which is so obvious in ultrathin sections, was found to be an artifact,i.e., originating during specimen preparation, it was not found in freeze-fractured samples.
Invaginations of the fungal cytoplasmic membrane that were 25–125nm in width and 50–800 nm in length occurred in ultrathin sections and freeze-fractured samples. The invaginations were located within the cytoplasmic membrane of haustorial and non-haustorial cells.
No differences between freshly collected and rewetted dry herbarium specimens could be detected by means of transmission electron microscopy.
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Büdel, B., Rhiel, E. Studies on the ultrastructure of some cyanolichen haustoria. Protoplasma 139, 145–152 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01282285
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01282285