Rod-shaped and spherical viruslike particles in cowpea rust fungus

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Abstract
Three types of rod-shaped viruslike particles (VLPs) (a short rigid rod (RR), 260 × 12 nm. a long narrow-diameter flexuous rod (NFR), 660 × 10 nm, and a long wide-diameter flexuous rod (WFR), 740 × 16 nm) and a spherical VLP (35 nm in diameter) were found in extracts of uredospores, germ tubes, and pustules of cowpea rust, negatively stained with ammonium molybdate. Both the size distributions and the stability of these VLPs was affected by the choice of stain since when phosphotungstic acid was used, two additional length classes of the RR (150 nm and 90 nm) were noted, and this stain tended to disassemble the WFR by unwinding the helix of this particle. The WFR also disassembled at pHs 4and5 in 10 mM acetate but only at pH 4 in the presence of 0.2 M NaCl. Examination of cowpea rust by thin sectioning revealed the presence of four types of VLPs. Morphologies of these particle types were consistent with the data obtained by negative staining.

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