Development and quantitative measurement of microsclerotia of Verticillium dahliae

Abstract

The development of microsclerotia of Verticillium dahliae from a few swollen hyaline cells on a hypha to a multicellular, pigmented "mature" structure is described and illustrated. A method for quantitatively estimating the amount of pigmented microsclerotial material in pure cultures was developed to study quantitative relations between mycelial growth and production of microsclerotial material in media containing different concentrations of glucose. At low glucose concentrations (0.6 to 10 mg/ml) microsclerotial material continued to increase after total dry weight of the cultures had reached a maximum, suggesting conversion of hyaline to pigmented material. At high glucose concentrations (20 to 60 mg/ml) the patterns of increase in total dry weight, microsclerotial material, and hyaline material were similar over a 4-week incubation period. Maximum production of both pigmented and hyaline materials occurred at a glucose concentration of 30 mg/ml (carbon/nitrogen ratio of 50/1).