An Autoradiographic Study of Hyphal Growth of Some Fungi

Incorporation of radioactive glucose and N-acetyl glucosamine into the walls of growing fungal hyphae has been studied using light microscopic autoradiography. Autoradiographs of Phytophthora parasitica with glucose as substrate and Neurospora crassa and Schizophyllum commune with glucose or N-acetyl glucosamine as substrate show that most of the incorporation after incubation times as short as 1 min. is at the extreme hyphal tip. N-Acetyl glucosamine is incorporated less into the subapical region than glucose, and N. crassa shows less subapical incorporation of both substrates than the other two fungi.