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Cytology and Histology

Vacuole Dynamics in Fungal Plant Pathogens. Charles L. Wilson, Research plant pathologist, Science and Education Administration, Agricultural Research, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Appalachian Fruit Research Station, Rt 2, Box 45, Kearneysville, WV 25430; Gene A. Jumper(2), and David L. Mason(3). (2)Graduate research associate, Department of Plant Pathology, The Ohio State University, Columbus 43210; (3)Associate professor, Department of Biology, Wittenburg University, Springfield, OH 45501. Phytopathology 70:783-788. Accepted for publication 8 February 1980. 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-70-783.

Vacuoles of Botrytis cinerea appeared to phagocytize neutral red-containing bodies and lipid bodies. Neutral red appeared to stimulate the formation of endocytic vesicles by the plasmalemma of B. cinerea spores. Lipid bodies in spores of Ceratocystic ulmi were observed entering vacuoles in living cells, presumably by autophagocytosis. Glycogen granules in Elsinoë wisconsinensis spore ground plasm appeared to be engulfed by membranes of the tonoplast and autophagocytized into the vacuole, where they apparently were digested. The widespread occurrence of vacuolar phagocytosis in a variety of fungal pathogens for different purposes suggests that this mechanism may be universal and important in fungal physiology.