Morph-agronomic characterization of watermelon accessions with resistance to Fusarium Wilt.

Fifty-five watermelon accessions were inoculated in pots using Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum chlamydospores in a completely randomized design with five replications.

Colletotrichum lindemuthianum exhibits different patterns of nuclear division at different stages in its vegetative life cycle.

Live-cell imaging with fluorescent protein labeling is providing major new insights into nuclear dynamics in filamentous fungi. With this approach we provide a detailed report of nuclear organization and behavior during mitosis in the bean pathogen Colletotrichum lindemuthianum. Nuclear division and nuclear migration were analyzed in ungerminated conidia, conidial germlings and the mature colony.

Heterokaryon incompatibility is suppressed following conidial anastomosis tube fusion in a fungal plant pathogen.

It has been hypothesized that horizontal gene/chromosome transfer and parasexual recombination following hyphal fusion between different strains may contribute to the emergence of wide genetic variability in plant pathogenic and other fungi. However, the significance of vegetative (heterokaryon) incompatibility responses, which commonly result in cell death, in preventing these processes is not known. In this study, we have assessed this issue following different types of hyphal fusion during colony initiation and in the mature colony.

Live-cell imaging of conidial fusion in the bean pathogen, Colletotrichum lindemuthianum.

Fusion of conidia and conidial germlings by means of conidial anastomosis tubes (CATs) is a common phenomenon in filamentous fungi, including many plant pathogens. It has a number of different roles, and has been speculated to facilitate parasexual recombination and horizontal gene transfer between species. The bean pathogen Colletotrichum lindemuthianum naturally undergoes CAT fusion on the host surface and within asexual fruiting bodies in anthracnose lesions on its host.