TITLE	Infection of alfalfa pollen by Botrytis cinerea
AUTHOR	H.C. Huang Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, P. O. Box 3000, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada T1J 4B1 E.G. Kokko Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, P. O. Box 3000, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada T1J 4B1 R.S. Erickson Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, P. O. Box 3000, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada T1J 4B1
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ABSTRACT	A microscopic study proved that pollen grains of alfalfa are susceptible to infection by Botrytis cinerea, an important pathogen for blossom blight of alfalfa in western Canada. Pollen grains were inoculated by mixing pollen with drops of a B. cinerea spore suspension on glass slides. Infection occurred by direct hyphal penetration of the pollen cell walls without the formation of appressoria. Infection through the germ pores was observed more frequently than through other parts of the pollen walls. Plasmolysis of the plasma membrane and destruction of the cytoplasm occurred as a result of intensive growth of hyphae in the cell lumen of infected pollen grains. The impact of pollen infection by B. cinerea on the epidemiology of blossom blight of alfalfa is discussed.
KEYWORD	Alfalfa; Blossom blight; Botrytis cinerea; Epidemiology; Infection of pollen;
ARTICLE INFO	Botanical Bulletin of Academia Sinica, Volume 40 Number 1 January 1999, page 101-106, 6 pages
PUBLISHER	Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China