Abstract

SAAVEDRA HERNANDEZ, Elsa; PEREZ SANTIAGO, Alma; PEREZ CAMPOS, Eduardo  and  CORDOBA ALVA, Félix. Efecto de la concanavalina a en el cultivo del fitopatógeno ustilago maydis. INCI [online]. 2003, vol.28, n.5, pp.278-280. ISSN 0378-1844.

The effect of Concanavalin A on Ustilago maydis cultures was tested in order to gain understanding about plant-fungi infection mechanisms. Growth kinetics of U. maydis in culture indicates that Con A promoted discrete culture growth after 9h of incubation, as compared with fungi cultures devoid of the lectin. Binding of Con A to basidial cells induced morphological changes such as agglutination, branching, ramification and increased budding. The use of a fluorescent conjugate of the lectin (Alexa-fluor) revealed points of increased fluorescence on the basidial cell tips and budding zones, suggesting a heterogeneous distribution of receptors on the cell wall surface during growth. The addition of a-D-methyl mannopyranoside to these preparations occluded the specific fluorescence.

Keywords : Concanavalina A; Lectina; Ustilago maydis .