Ultrastructure and evolution of ballistosporic basidiospores |
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Authors: | DAVID J.McLAUGHLIN F.L.S. ALAN BECKETT KWON S. YOON |
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Affiliation: | Department of Botany, University of Minnesota, St Paul, Minnesota 55108, U.S.A.;Department of Botany, The University, Bristol BS8 1UG;Department of Biology, Kangwon University, Chuncheon, Korea 200 |
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Abstract: | Basidiospores oiCoprinus cinereus were examined before and during spore discharge using light microscopy, and SEM of frozen-hydrated and other preparations. The process of droplet development at the hilar appendix was divided into three stages: pre-droplet, early and late enlargement. The fully expanded droplet was preserved only in frozen-hydrated specimens. Two-step droplet enlargement was also observed with TEM in Boletus rubinellus, and the droplet at the early enlargement stage was enclosed by a trilaminate membrane. The droplet was not observed in Auricularia species, but basidiospore preservation for SEM was optimum in Auricularia auricula with frozen-hydrated preparations. The hilar appendix of Auricularia fuscosuccinea as studied by TEM was simple compared with those of the Homobasidiomycetes. The implications of the data for evolution of the ballistosporic basidiospore and the discharge mechanism are considered. |
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Keywords: | Auricularia Boletus Coprinus evolution low-temperature SEM violent discharge |
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