A new flagellated dispersion stage in Paraphysoderma sedebokerense, a pathogen of Haematococcus pluvialis.

ABSTRACT: The blastocladialean fungus Paraphysoderma sedebokerense Boussiba, Zarka and James is a devastating pathogen of the commercially valuable green microalga Haematococcus pluvialis, a natural source of the carotenoid pigment astaxanthin. First identified in commercial Haematococcus cultivation facilities, P. sedebokerense is hypothesised to have a complex life cycle that switches between a vegetative and a resting phase depending on favourable or unfavourable growth conditions. Rather unusually for blastocladialean fungi, P. sedebokerense was described as lacking flagellated zoospores and only propagating via aplanosporic amoeboid cells. However, during repeated microscopic observation of P. sedebokerense cultivated in optimal conditions, we detected

SUBMITTER: Strittmatter M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4851982 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature