Columellar Germination in Mucor Piriformis

ABSTRACT

The first evidence of columellar germination in mucoraceous fungi is reported for Mucor piriformis isolated from fruits in California and from Chile. In one isolate, columellar germination ranged from 3.6 to 10.6% in test tube cultures incubated at 21 C for 20 da, while cultures incubated for the same period at 0, 6, or 9 C did not show columellar germination. One to five hyphae originated from a single columella and formed simple or sympodially branched sporangiophores producing one to four secondary sporangia. Some columellae contained yellowish to brown protoplasmic material while others appeared empty. In 50% of these columellae, a single septum delimited the protoplasmic contents prior to germination process.

Key Words:

• germination
• Mucorales
• secondary sporangia