New Zealand Journal of Botany abstract
Characterisation of Thozetella tocklaiensis isolated from the roots of
three grass species in Waikato pastures, New Zealand
N. W. WAIPARA
M. E. DI MENNA
New Zealand Pastoral Agriculture Research Institute
Private Bag 3123
Hamilton, New Zealand
A. L. J. COLE
Department of Plant and Microbial Sciences
University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch, New Zealand
R. A. SKIPP
New Zealand Pastoral Agriculture Research Institute
Private Bag 11008
Palmerston North, New Zealand
Abstract In a mycological survey of Waikato pastures,
Thozetella tocklaiensis was isolated from the roots of perennial
ryegrass (Lolium perenne), sweet vernal (Anthoxanthum odoratum),
and browntop (Agrostis capillaris). Initially, isolates grew as sterile
dematiaceous mycelium in culture but when grown on nutrient poor media under
near-UV light produced conidia in sporodochia characteristic of Thozetella
tocklaiensis. Electron microscopy revealed that conidiophores within each
sporodochium were surrounded by excipular hyphae which produced sterile
microawns. The fungus produced sporodochia on roots of grass and clover
seedlings and hyphae penetrated epidermal and cortical root tissue of seedlings
without causing visible disease symptoms. This fungus has not previously been
reported in New Zealand and is unrecorded from plant roots.
Keywords Thozetella tocklaiensis; pasture roots;
root-colonising; sporulation; microawns
B96021
Received 10 April 1996; accepted 11 July 1996
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