The In Vitro Production of Sphaerule-Like Bodies in Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus)-Derived and Toad (Bufo marinus)-Derived Cultures of Mucor amphibiorum, and a Platypus-Derived Culture of Mucor circinelloides.

Abstract

Isolates of Mucor amphibiorum and Mucor circinelloides from ulcerated platypuses (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) in the north of Tasmania were compared with isolates of M. amphibiorum taken from cane toads (Bufo marinus) in Queensland. Sphaerule-like bodies previously associated with in vivo growth of M. amphibiorum were produced in vitro. Two types of sphaerule-like bodies were observed. Type 1 bodies were found only in +ve mating types. Type 2 were found in both +ve and -ve mating types. Both type 1 and type 2 sphaerule-like bodies were apparent in sections of tissue taken from ulcerated O. anatinus. Type 2 bodies were induced in M. circinelloides, a species not previously associated with the formation of sphaerule-like bodies, either in vivo or in vitro.