Summary
A detailed histochemical investigation was carried out on rind, cortical and medullary hyphae of sclerotia ofSclerotinia minor Jagger. Four developmental stages, including mature sclerotia, were studied. The walls and septa of all hyphae contained chitin and β-1,3 glucans, while those of the rind contained in addition, a melanin-like pigment. An extracellular matrix, which accumulated around cortical and medullary hyphae, consisted primarily of β-1,3 glucans, although another polysaccharide, which could not be identified by histochemical methods, was also present. Phenolic material was deposited around the extracellular matrix and in the few interhyphal spaces that remained at maturity. Glycogen was present throughout the cytoplasm of hyphae of the cortex and medulla, at all stages of their differentiation. Polyphosphate granules were laid down within small vacuoles and as sclerotia matured, became most common in the cortical region. Protein bodies developed rapidly in cortical and medullary hyphae until at maturity, they were the most obvious interhyphal feature. These bodies were either round or elongated in shape, the elongated ones often lying parallel to the long axis of the hyphae, and in close association with strands of endoplasmic reticulum. No lipid reserves were detected.
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Bullock, S., Ashford, A.E. & Willetts, H.J. The structure and histochemistry of sclerotia ofSclerotinia minor Jagger. Protoplasma 104, 333–351 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01279777
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01279777