The effects of temperature on the growth and polypeptide composition of several snow mold species

Abstract

Myriosclerotinia borealis (W51), Coprinus spp. (13W1 and 14W2), Typhula idahoensis (W21), and Typhula incarnata (W29) were incubated in the dark on a defined agar medium at permissive (4 °C) and nonpermissive temperatures (22 and 30 °C). Isolates of Coprinus spp. and Typhula spp. required higher temperatures than M. borealis to arrest vegetative growth completely. The effects of incubation at permissive and nonpermissive temperatures on the polypeptide compositions of M. borealis, Coprinus spp., T. idahoensis (W21), and T. incarnata (W29) were examined by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The results indicated that the number of polypeptides in the polypeptide complement of M. borealis and both Typhula species decreased significantly during incubation at nonpermissive temperatures. In contrast, Coprinus sp. (13W1) showed no significant change in the number of polypeptides observed during incubation at nonpermissive temperatures. Furthermore, there appeared to be an increase in the relative proportion of at least three polypeptides during incubation of Coprinus at nonpermissive temperatures. The significance of these species-dependent responses to nonpermissive growth temperatures is discussed.