Cytochemical localization of some polysaccharide components in the cell walls of Chalara elegans during its life cycle

Abstract

DUMAS-GAUDOT, E., TAHIRI-ALAOUI, A., and BENHAMOU, N. 1992. Cytochemical localization of some polysaccharidic components in the cell walls of Chalara elegans during its life cycle. Can. J. Microbiol. 38: 828-837. The occurrence of polysaccharides and sugars in the cell walls of the soil-borne pathogenic fungus Chalara elegans (deuteromycete) has been investigated at the electron microscope level, using cytochemical approaches based on the affinity of lectin or enzyme-gold complexes for some carbohydrates. Evidence for the presence of both P-1,4-glucans and chitinous components is reported here for the first time in the cell walls of chlamydospores, endoconidia, and hyphae. A minor component with N-acetyl-D-galactosamine residues is also detected in the cell walls and, as a storage product, in the cytoplasm. The spatial distribution of both cellulosic P-1,4-glucans and N-acetylglucosamine residues differs according to the fungal cells, and the present results give a more accurate description of the multilayered structure of the fungal walls (i.e., chlamydospores and hyphae).