Ultrastructural study of galacturonic acid distribution in some pathogenic fungi using gold-complexed Aplysia depilans gonad lectin

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Abstract
Aplysia gonad lectin, isolated from the mollusc Aplysia depilans, was successflly conjugated to colloidal gold and used for ultrastructural detection of galacturonic acids in some pathogenic fungi. These sugar residues were found to occur in the fibrillar sheath surrounding hyphal cells of Ascocalyx abietina and in intravacular dense inclusions of this fungus spores. In hyphae and spores of Ophiostoma ulmi, galacturonic acids were detected mainly in the outermost wall layers. In contrast, these saccharides appeared associated with the innermost wall layers and especially the plasma membrane of Vertilicillum albo-atrum cells. Galacturonic acids were found to be absent in cells of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici and Candida albicans. These cytochemical data indicate therefore that a heterogeneity in wall composition exists between ascomycete fungi. The significance of the presence of galacturonic acids in the cell walls of certain fungi is still open to question.

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