Studies on the Systematics of Ectomycorrhizal Fungi in Axenic Culture. Reactions of Mycelia to Diazonium Blue B Staining

ABSTRACT

Diazonium blue B reagent was used to test staining reactions of mycelia of 96 species of ectomycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal-like fungi grown for five weeks in liquid culture. Red to violet staining was seen in harvested mycelia of basidiomycetes treated in cold KOH while negative reactions indicated fungi with ascomycetous affinities. Non-treated mycelia gave a variety of different color responses which were generally species-specific. Mycelia of Cortinarius species and most boletes did not stain while most species of Hebeloma, Hygrophorus, Lacearia and Tricholoma stained yellow. A purely red staining reaction was restricted mainly to a few species within the Boletaceae. Results reveal potential value of diazonium blue B staining as a taxonomic character for identification of mycelia isolated from field-collected ectomycorrhizae.

Key Words:

• ectomycorrhizal fungi
• diazonium blue B
• cultures
• identification
• systematics