QUANTITATIVE ESTIMATION OF SURFACE CARBOHYDRATES OF ECTOMYCORRHIZAL FUNGI IN PURE CULTURE AND DURING EUCALYPTUS ROOT INFECTION

FITC-labelled lectins were used to study cell wall surface carbohydrat es of ectomycorrhizal fungi. Fungal wall surfaces are coated with non reactive compounds which can be removed by protease or laminarinase. V ariability between different fungal strains or different fungal specie s is rather low but increases after enzymatic removal of outer layers covering lectin receptors. These fungal characters are stable, they do not depend on the age of the colony or the nutrient medium. Also, aft er infection of Eucalyptus roots, hyphae of Pisolithus tinctorius did not change their characteristics dramatically, except that some additi onal affinity to concanavalin A was observed in hyphal cross sections.