Endoconidiogenesis in Endoconidioma populi and Phaeotheca fissurella

Abstract

Details of the development of endoconidia were basically the same in Endoconidioma populi and Phaeotheca fissurella. In both species, endoconidiogenesis involved (i) subdivision of conidiogenous mother cells by septation to form two to several daughter cells; (ii) accumulation of an electron-dense material between the daughter and mother cell walls; and (iii) separation of the daughter cells by septum schizolysis, accompanied by the dissolution of mother cell wall. Conidiomata of E. populi were unique in having a closed peridium and a locule filled with conidiogenous mother cells and, therefore, we proposed the new term, cleistopycnidium (pl. -a), for this structure. In the cleistopycnidium of E. populi, endoconidiation usually began in the core of the locule and spread outward. Release of endoconidia was by the degeneration of peridial cell walls.

• black yeasts
• cleistopycnidium
• conidioma
• endoconidium
• meristematic black fungi
• septum schizolysis
• ultrastructure

This research was financed in part by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery grant (R.S.C) and by a research grant from Tottori Mycological Institute (A.T.). We thank Drs M. Chen and S. Murakami for their technical assistance in TEM.