Ultrastructure and lipid identification during conidium germination of Stemphylium sarcinaeforme.

Multicelled conidia of Stemphylium sarcinaeforme germinate in water forming several germ tubes. Individual cells within conidia are connected by pores which are plugged in ungerminated conidia and open in germinated ones. During germination, vacuoles enlarge, endoplasmic reticulum profiles increase in number, and mitochondria change from spherical to elongate. The germ tube wall is laid down at the site of emergence from the conidium. Shortly after germination, a septum with a central pore forms where ther germ tube emerged. The germ tube wall is surrounded by a fibrillar sheath. Lipid bodies are closely associated with vacuoles during germination. The ultrastructural location of lipid was found by extraction of conidia with lipid solvents. Total lipid decreases from 14.4% of the dry weight of ungerminated conidia to 13.4% of the dry weight of conidia germinated for 10 h. No qualitative changes occurred in the major lipid classes of conidia during germination. The activities of lipase and acid phosphatase were detected in ungerminated and germinated conidia.