Abstract

Dormant Tilletia caries teliospores in fixative solution or distilled water were frozen onto specimen chucks of an FTS Sorvall- Christensen frozen thin sectioner and cut or fractured at various temperatures (-20 to -75 C) and thickness settings (10, 15, 20, and 25 um). Cytoplasm of dormant spores was well preserved and organelles were found to differ from those of germinated spores in morphology. Irregular electron dense and electron opaque areas of lipid bodies were sometimes evident in dormant and germinating Tilletia caries teliospores. When dormant teliospores were sectioned in buffered fixative, lipids had an appearance similar to lipids in thin sections of germinated teliospores. When dormant and germinating teliospores were sectioned in frozen distilled water and subsequently fixed, "mop-like" structures were evident. The "mop-like" structures were made up of a lamellar substructure with 6-10 nm center-to-center spacing. Lipid bodies of dormant and germinating teliospores often appear to have half-unit membranes surrounding them.

Degree

College and Department

Life Sciences; Plant and Wildlife Sciences

Rights

http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/