The temporal relationship between the development of intracellular hyphae and haustoria by Physopella zeae in Zea mays

Abstract

To investigate the developmental relationship between haustoria and intracellular hyphae, fixed and cleared whole mounts of com leaves infected with the tropical corn rust fungus Physopella zeae (Mains) Cumm. & Ramachar were examined by interference contrast light microscopy. Haustoria were clearly distinguished from intracellular hyphae by their morphological differentiation into a filamentous body and a narrow neck. The latter was encircled by a thin neckband, which appeared to develop in young haustoria at the time when the haustorial body started to expand. Observations made at the colony margins suggested that the fungus grew into uninvaded epidermal tissue in the following sequence: (i) formation of a haustorium from a haustorial mother cell in an adjacent cell, (ii) formation of an intracellular hypha next to the haustorium by the same intracellular hypha that had formed the haustorial mother cell, (iii) growth of the intracellular hypha within the newly invaded plant cell, (iv) formation by the intracellular hyphae of haustorial mother cells against the plant cell wall adjacent to an uninvaded cell, and (v) formation of haustoria in the uninvaded cell. These results support the previous suggestion that the haustorium may induce a state of susceptibility in the plant cell, "paving the way" for invasion by the intracellular hyphae.