Jm. Griffith et al., PHOSPHONATE INHIBITION AS A FUNCTION OF PHOSPHATE CONCENTRATION IN ISOLATES OF PHYTOPHTHORA-PALMIVORA, Journal of General Microbiology, 139, 1993, pp. 2109-2116
Three isolates of Phytophthora palmivora showing differing sensitiviti
es to phosphonate were grown in the presence of a uniform concentratio
n of the anion (1 mM), together with concentrations of phosphate which
varied from zero to 3 mM. The phosphonate-sensitive isolate was inhib
ited by phosphonate at all levels of phosphate, but the resistant isol
ates were inhibited by phosphonate only when phosphate was limiting to
growth and were able to exclude phosphonate more effectively than the
sensitive isolate at higher concentrations of phosphate. The percenta
ge inhibition in each strain was proportional to the internal concentr
ation of phosphonate, but the slope of the plot of inhibition against
internal phosphonate varied between strains. Differences in the capaci
ty to discriminate between phosphate and phosphonate therefore provide
part of, but not the whole explanation for differences in sensitivity
between isolates. There was a significant increase in the internal co
ncentration of orthophosphate in the mycelia which were inhibited by p
hosphonate.