[Link], I sem,BOTANY.
DIVERSITY OF MICROORGANISMS AND THALLOPHYTES
Phycomycetes -Albugo (cystopus)
Systematic Position
Kingdom: Fungi
Phylum: Oomycota
Class: Oomycetes/Phycomycetes
Order: Peronosporales
Family: Albuginaceae
Genus: Albugo
Species: [Link], A. bliti, A. occidentalis etc.,
Structure of the Thallus in Albugo
In Albugo, the thallus is formed by mycelium, which is a network of numerous hyphae.
This mycelium grows in the spaces between host cells (intercellular spaces).
The hyphae are:
Elongated, thread-like, and highly branched
Lack cross walls (aseptate) and are coenocytic, meaning they contain many nuclei within a
continuous cytoplasm
Septa (cross walls) develop only when sexual reproductive structures are formed
The hyphae give rise to haustoria, which are specialized structures used to extract nutrients
from the host.
These haustoria appear as rounded or knob-like projections
A rounded head about 4 micrometers in diameter
A thin stalk around 0.5 micrometers wide.
The haustorial head (part of the feeding structure) is filled with cell fluid that has
mitochondria, ribosomes, endoplasmic reticulum, and fat droplets, but no nucleus.
The base of the haustorium is covered by a collar-like ring, which comes from the
host plant's cell wall.
Digital Learning- DCE DAVANAGERE UNIVERSITY Page 1
[Link], I sem,BOTANY. DIVERSITY OF MICROORGANISMS AND THALLOPHYTES
A layer called the extra-haustorial matrix surrounds the haustorium, separating it from
the plant's cell membrane.
Some branches of the hyphae grow into conidiophores, which produce conidia (spores
used for asexual reproduction).
The cytoplasm inside the hyphae has vacuoles, many oil drops, glycogen, and several
nuclei.
A structure called the lomasome is formed from the plasma membrane and grows into
the cytoplasm. It is made of small membranes and tubes and may help in cell wall
formation.
Asexual Reproduction
It takes place by conidia, sporangia or zoosporangia. They are multinucleate structure
produced in basipetal succession on erect, short, club-shaped structure called conidiophores
or sporangiophores
Formation of conidiophores or sporangiophore
Once the mycelium is well developed in the host, it forms a thick layer of hyphae just under
the outer skin (epidermis).
Some of these hyphae grow upwards and line up like a fence, standing straight at a
right angle to the surface.
These upright hyphae grow thicker walls and are then called conidiophores,
sporangiophores, or conidiosporangiophores.
Digital Learning- DCE DAVANAGERE UNIVERSITY Page 2
[Link], I sem,BOTANY. DIVERSITY OF MICROORGANISMS AND THALLOPHYTES
A fully grown conidiophore looks like a cylinder or club and contains many nuclei,
along with cytoplasm and stored food.
These structures have strong side walls and produce chains of conidia (spores) at their
tips, with the oldest spores at the top and the newest ones at the bottom (basipetal
order).
Formation of Conidia, Sporangia, or Zoospores
During the formation of conidia, the tip of the conidiophore becomes swollen.
About 5 to 8 nuclei move into this enlarged area. A narrowing (constriction) then
begins to form at the base—first in the cytoplasm, and later in the outer wall.
This narrowing deepens and eventually separates a small bud from the tip of the
conidiophore.
This bud is called a conidium (also referred to as a conidiosporangium or sporangium,
depending on the context).
After the first conidium is formed, the tip of the conidiophore just beneath it starts
forming another conidium in the same way.
This process keeps repeating, forming a chain of conidia at the tip of the
conidiophore.
In this chain, the conidia are arranged in basipetal order—meaning the youngest
conidium is at the bottom (near the conidiophore tip), and the oldest is at the top.
The conidia in the chain are joined by a transverse septum or a shared outer wall. This
wall becomes gelatinous and forms a small disc-like structure called an intercalary
disc.
Liberation of Conidia and Structure
On absorbing moisture, the disc disintegrates and conidia are separated. The
conidiophores bearing conidial chains and release conidia accumulate and exert
Digital Learning- DCE DAVANAGERE UNIVERSITY Page 3
[Link], I sem,BOTANY. DIVERSITY OF MICROORGANISMS AND THALLOPHYTES
pressure on the host epidermis from below. As a result the epidermis bulges out and
finally ruptures exposing the conidia to external atmosphere. The conidia are
disseminated by wind
Germination of Conidia
When conidia land on a suitable host, they can start germinating within 2–3 hours if
the environment is favorable.
Germination begins when there is enough moisture and the temperature is around
10°C. The cytoplasm inside the conidium splits into 2 to 20 small, single-nucleus
parts.
These parts become almost round and are released through a pore in the conidial wall.
Each part then transforms into a kidney-shaped (reniform), single-nucleus zoospore
with two flagella.
The flagella are located on the concave (inward-curved) side of the zoospore,
allowing it to swim.
After swimming for a while, the zoospore loses its flagella, becomes still, and forms a
cell wall.
It then produces a germ tube that enters the host plant through natural openings called
stomata.
This germ tube grows and branches out, forming the intercellular mycelium (a
network of fungal threads inside the plant).
However, when the environment is dry and temperature is high, the conidia skip the
zoospore stage.
Instead, they form cysts, which directly produce germ tubes.
In this case, no zoospores are formed.
Because of this dual nature, i.e. conidia producing zoospores and also capable of
germinating directly, it has been rightly named as conidiosporangia by smith (1955)
Sexual Reproduction in Albugo
Albugo shows oogamous sexual reproduction, which means it involves two different
types of reproductive cells:
o The male structure is called the antheridium.
Digital Learning- DCE DAVANAGERE UNIVERSITY Page 4
[Link], I sem,BOTANY. DIVERSITY OF MICROORGANISMS AND THALLOPHYTES
o The female structure is called the oogonium.
Sexual reproduction can be noticed by the swollen (hypertrophied) appearance of the
infected plant parts.
These reproductive structures usually form deep inside the stem or flowers
(inflorescence) of the plant, especially toward the end of the growing season.
The antheridia and oogonia develop on different hyphae, but they are located very
close to each other for fertilization to occur.
Development of Oogonium
The oogonium begins to develop as a swollen tip at the end of a hypha. This swelling
fills with cytoplasm and many nuclei.
The swelling enlarges further, becoming rounded (globose) in shape, and then gets
separated from the hypha below it by a cross wall (septum).
Inside the young oogonium, the nuclei undergo several mitotic divisions, resulting in
about 100–300 nuclei.
At first, the cytoplasm inside the oogonium has evenly distributed nuclei and vacuoles
spread throughout. Later, the cytoplasm divides into two layers:
The inner dense part, known as the ooplasm, and
The outer layer, which contains vacuoles, called the periplasm.
All the nuclei move to the edge (periphery) of the ooplasm and divide by mitosis.
During this division, about half of the new nuclei move into the periplasm, while the
other half stay in the ooplasm.
Later, all the nuclei break down and disappear except for one nucleus that remains in
the ooplasm.
This remaining nucleus becomes the egg nucleus.
Each oogonium is round or nearly round, with two walls, and contains cytoplasm that
is divided into the dense central ooplasm and the vacuolated outer periplasm.
Development of Antheridium
• Some of the hyphae close to oogonium form the antheridia.
• The tips of such hyphae become swollen and finally delimited by a cross wall.
• A young antheridium usually contains 6-12 nuclei
• The antheridia remains short and get closely appressed to the oogonial wall
• Simultaneous to the nuclear division in the oogonium, the nuclei of antheridia also
divide mitotically.
Digital Learning- DCE DAVANAGERE UNIVERSITY Page 5
[Link], I sem,BOTANY. DIVERSITY OF MICROORGANISMS AND THALLOPHYTES
Fertilization
After the egg nucleus is formed, the oosphere (egg cell) develops a small growth
called a papilla that grows toward the antheridium (male structure) and presses
against it.
The antheridium then produces a thin fertilization tube that pierces the oogonium
wall, goes through the papilla, and reaches deep into the egg.
Through this tube, a single male nucleus along with some cytoplasm is transferred
into the oogonium.
This transfer cause plamogamy, which is the mixing of male and female cytoplasm,
and shortly after, karyogamy occurs, where the male and female nuclei fuse together.
The antheridium and fertilization tube remain attached for some time even after
fertilization and the formation of the oospore
After the completion of plasmogamy and karyogamy the zygote soon secretes a thick
wall consisting of three layers, the epispore, the exospores and the endospore.
• The exospores and endospore are smooth layers while the outermost epispore is
variously sculptured.
• The sculptures may be tuberculate ( in A. candida, A. lipigoni) or reticulate ( in A.
occidentalis, A. portulaceae).
• In fact, the sculpturing is so characteristic that on this basis alone the albugo species
can be differentiated.
Soon after fertilization the zygote nucleus divides, and 32 nuclei are formed.
Digital Learning- DCE DAVANAGERE UNIVERSITY Page 6
[Link], I sem,BOTANY. DIVERSITY OF MICROORGANISMS AND THALLOPHYTES
At these 32 nucleate stages the oospores are disintegrated leaving the oospores free.
The oospore cytoplasm is then cleaved into as many pieces as the nuclei are.
Each piece is metamorphosed into a reniform, uninucleate, biflagellate zoospore. The
outer wall of the oospore ruptures and the inner wall protrudes out in the form of
vesicle in which the zoospores swim or sometime in a thin film of alter retract the
flagella and germinate by giving out germ tubes.
White rust of Crucifers.
Causative agent: Albugo candida
It attacks several annual crucifers such as Capsella bursa pastoris, Lepidium sativum,
Brassica campestris, Raphanus sativus and several other crucifer weeds. It causes a disease
called “white rust” or “blister rust”.
The genus Albugo is represented by 25 species. All are parasite on land plants. Of these A.
Candida has long been known as an obligate parasite commonly found on a wide range of
crucifers. Biga (1955) reported about 241 species in 63 genera are attacked by this fungal
parasite.
Digital Learning- DCE DAVANAGERE UNIVERSITY Page 7
[Link], I sem,BOTANY. DIVERSITY OF MICROORGANISMS AND THALLOPHYTES
Symptoms
1. The symptoms of disease first appear on the leaves in the form of shining white,
smooth, irregular patches or blisters.
2. The lower surface of leaves usually show white pustules
3. In due course of time the pustules become powdery and appear like rusting
4. The leaves may show irregular thickening, fleshiness, stunting, enrolling and
swelling
5. From leaves, the infection is passed on to various other parts of the plant which
Cause twisting of stems, deformation of flowers, gall formation and hypertrophy in
the inflorescence axis.
Control measures:
Rotation of crops, removal and destruction of infected plants from the field and spraying with
fungicides such as with 0.8 percent Bordeaux mixture are the most effective methods of
controlling the disease.
Digital Learning- DCE DAVANAGERE UNIVERSITY Page 8
[Link], I sem,BOTANY. DIVERSITY OF MICROORGANISMS AND THALLOPHYTES
References:
Agrios, G.N. 1988. Plant Pathology, 3rd edition. Academic Press, Inc: San Diego. 803 pp.
Alexopoulos, C.J.(1962). Introductory Mycology, second edition, John wiley & sons, Inc.,
New york & London.
Vashishta, B.R., and [Link]. (2014). Botany for Degree students- Fungi, [Link]
publications, New delhi
Digital Learning- DCE DAVANAGERE UNIVERSITY Page 9