Parasitization of Pine Stem Rust Fungi byMonocillium nordinii

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Abstract
M. nordinii that occurred in sori of Cronartium coleosporioides and Endocronartium harknessii in Alberta, Canada, was a destructive mycoparasite of these pine stem rust fungi. Detailed study of the parasitic process in the E. harknessii-M. nordinii interaction showed that hyphae of M. nordinii grew between the surface wart layers of rust spores and that swollen appressorium-like bodies often were formed where contact was made. The host cytoplasm occasionally developed a papilla beneath the area of contact during the early stages of parasitism; the host cell eventually lost most of its cytoplasm, except oil bodies, in most cases. Penetration of the rust spores by the Monocillium hyphae usually apparently occurred after the host cells were killed. Monocillium generally formed many conidiophores and conidia on the host spores. Eventually the surface morphology of the infected rust spores was greatly degraded. Antifungal metabolites of M. nordinii are probably involved in this parasitic process.