An ultrastructural comparison of monokaryotic and dikaryotic haustoria formed by the fusiform rust fungus Cronartium quercuum f.sp. fusiforme

Abstract

Haustoria formed by the monokaryotic stage of Cronartium quercuum f. sp. fusiforme in Pinus taeda differed from those of the dikaryotic phase in Quercus rubra. Monokaryotic (M) haustorial walls were continuous with the walls of relatively undifferentiated haustorial mother cells. The septate M-haustorial neck and expanded M-haustorial body were separated from the invaginated host plasmalemma by a sheath which was continuous with the host cell wall. Collars encasing sheaths were infrequently observed. Dikaryotic (D) haustoria were morphologically similar to M-haustoria; however, they differed in several respects when examined with TEM. The D-haustorial mother cell wall was thickened at the penetration site but a reduction in the number of wall layers occurred between the thickened portion of the mother cell and the D-haustorium. A darkly staining neckband was present in the wall of the nonseptate D-haustorial neck but was lacking in the M-haustorium. An extensive sheath separated the invaginated host plasmalemma from the D-haustorial wall distally from the neckband. However, the sheath was separated from the D-haustorial wall and from the host cell wall by an invaginated host plasmalemma doubled in the haustorial neck region proximally from the neckband.