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Cytology and Histology

Teliospore Formation by Ustilago scitaminea in Sugarcane. Edward J. Trione, USDA-AR-SEA, and Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis 97331; Phytopathology 70:513-516. Accepted for publication 13 November 1979. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1980. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-70-513.

The pathogen, which causes sugarcane smut, grew slowly in all sugarcane tissues other than the whiplike shoot, but in that modified apex the vegetative hyphae changed physiologically and cytologically into a reproductive phase that yielded large numbers of spores. The vegetative hyphae in the sori in the surface layers of the whip were mononucleate and irregular in shape and length. These hyphal cells aggregated, enlarged in size, and released their nuclei into a gelatinous matrix as their cell walls were hydrolyzed. Gradually cytoplasm and a cell wall formed around each nucleus. The spore initials were not connected directly to hyphae. The developing teliospores were held together in clusters by the gelatinous matrix. Mature teliospores also were formed in axenic culture on a medium containing aqueous extracts of sugarcane tissue.