Abstract
Linear mitochondrial plasmids occur in most field isolates of the grass pathogen Claviceps purpurea ; their function is still unknown. Infection experiments with plasmid-free strains obtained by curing with ethidium bromide had indicated that these plasmids might play a role in the parasitic cycle. Pathogenicity tests with a derivative of C. purpurea strain K, which had lost its endogenous plasmid spontaneously during vegetative growth, did not demonstrate a function of this plasmid in pathogenicity. One of the reasons for the maintenance and widespread distribution of such ‘selfish’ plasmids could be their mobility, which is indicated by the presence of identical plasmids in non-related C. purpurea isolates, and which is proved here by transmission of a plasmid between two nonrelated strains by protoplast fusion.
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