Premium
Scanning electron microscopy observation of host entry by two brown algae endophytic in Laminaria saccharina (Laminariales, Phaeophyceae)
Author(s) -
Heesch Svenja,
Peters Akira F.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
phycological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.438
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1440-1835
pISSN - 1322-0829
DOI - 10.1046/j.1440-1835.1999.00145.x
Subject(s) - saccharina , biology , spore , laminaria , botany , laminaria digitata , algae , frond , host (biology) , brown algae , ecology
SUMMARY The germination of spores of the endophytic brown algae Laminariocolax aecidioides and Laminarionema elsbetiae (Ectocarpales sensu lato ) on their host Laminaria saccharina was studied using scanning electron microscopy. Zoids were the infective units in both taxa. Despite a large difference in size between spores of the species studied, the initial steps of infection were similar. Zoids settled on the host surface, and during secretion of adhesive material from their anterior end, the spores became elongated to rod‐shaped and stood erect on the host. A single germ tube developed at the proximal end and penetrated the intact surface of the host. Sharp edges around the entrance hole and the absence of inward deformation of the host surface around the settled zoids suggest an enzymatic rather than a mechanical penetration mechanism.