Elemental Composition of Dormant and Germinating Fungal Spores

Abstract

For dormant (spores 0) and germinating fungal spores (spores G), elemental composition and the К/Са and P/S ratios were determined. According to the working hypothesis, the latter reflected the specifics of the spore physiological state. Mycelial fungi with different rates of spore transition from the exogenous dormant state in the absence of nutrients in reactivation media were studied. Carbon content in spores 0 correlated with the level of cellular lipids. The K/Ca ration in spores 0 was lower for Aspergillus tamarii and Cunninghamella echinulata than for Aspergillus sydowii and Umbelopsis ramanniana. The P/S ratio in Aspergillus dormant spores was lower than in zygomycete fungi, while in rapidly germinating spores of A. tamarii and C. echinulata this ratio was 1.5‒1.75 times lower than in slowly germinating spores of A. sydowii and U. ramanniana strains. Thus, low К/Са and P/S ratios in dormant fungal spores may be used to predict their more rapid transition from the dormant state, which is important in the case of mycelial fungi producing compounds used in biotechnology, as well as for the clinically significant strains.