Abstract
The snow mold fungus, Sclerotinia borealis, shows optimal growth at 4°C on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and can grow even at subzero temperature. Its mycelial growth was improved on frozen PDA at −1°C and on PDA containing potassium chloride (KCl) (water potential, −4.27 to −0.85 MPa) or d(−) sorbitol (−3.48 to −0.92 MPa). Its optimal growth temperature shifted from 4 to 10°C on PDA amended with KCl or sorbitol, indicating that inherent optimal growth occurs at high temperatures. These results suggest that S. borealis uses concentrated nutrients in the frozen environment and that such physiologic characteristics are critical for the fungus to prevail at subzero temperatures.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the late Dr. Y. Sakamoto (Forest and Forest Products Research Institute, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan) for providing strain of R. therryanum. Thanks are also due to Dr. M. Yoshida, National Agricultural Research Center for Hokkaido Region (Sapporo, Japan), and Prof. Dr. G. Iwahana, Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University (Sapporo, Japan), for their comments and encouragement. This research was financially supported in part by Grant-in Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) (no. 19570100 and 18255005) from the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).
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Hoshino, T., Terami, F., Tkachenko, O.B. et al. Mycelial growth of the snow mold fungus, Sclerotinia borealis, improved at low water potentials: an adaption to frozen environment. Mycoscience 51, 98–103 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10267-009-0013-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10267-009-0013-3