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Structural features of a Lophodermium endophyte during the cryptic life-cycle phase in the foliage of Pinus strobus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 August 2001

Ron J. DECKERT
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada. E-mail: lpeterso@uoguelph.ca
Lewis H. MELVILLE
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada. E-mail: lpeterso@uoguelph.ca
R. Larry PETERSON
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada. E-mail: lpeterso@uoguelph.ca
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Abstract

Needles of Pinus strobus (white pine) were cleared and stained to survey the occurrence and location of Lophodermium sp., a fungal endophyte. Cytoplasmically dense endophytic hyphae with a pronounced lobed morphology and containing lipid bodies were localized intercellularly between the epidermis and hypodermis. These fungal infections did not appear quiescent, but rather exhibited signs of continual slow growth. A few associated host cells exhibited a hypersensitive response. Material embedded in resin and examined by light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy confirmed the location of hyphae between epidermal and hypodermal cells, and the presence of lipid bodies within the hyphae. In senescing needles, aggressive colonization of needle tissues occurred. Thus, for Lophodermium in white pine, endophytic infection is active rather than quiescent, and displays an alternate hyphal strategy to that seen in the reproductive phase.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© The British Mycological Society 2001

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