Summary
Effects of treatment with methyl benzimidazole-2-ylcarbamate (MBC) on living hyphal tip cells ofFusarium acuminatum were determined with phase contrast light microscopy. These included (i) displacement of mitochondria from hyphal apices, (ii) disappearance of Spitzenkörpers, (iii) reduction of linear growth rate, and (iv) metaphase arrest of all mitoses: responses i–iii were not a result of effects on mitosis. Since all of these responses theoretically could have resulted from an MBC effect on microtubule structure and/or function, heavy water (D2O) was used to counteract MBC. Treatments of hyphae with MBC + D2O caused quantitative responses, i–iii above, intermediate between those to the separate reagents, and some nuclei of these hyphae were not arrested at mitosis. Moreover, several nuclei fragmented (multimicronucleation) in a manner apparently similar to mammalian nuclei treated with antitubulin agents. Thus, the effects of MBC on apical organization, Spitzenkörper integrity, hyphal growth and mitosis could have been mediated through interference with microtubules.
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Howard, R.J., Aist, J.R. Effects of MBC on hyphal tip organization, growth, and mitosis ofFusarium acuminatum, and their antagonism by D2O. Protoplasma 92, 195–210 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01279458
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01279458