Influence of Soil Fertility and Moisture on Lysis of Fungal Hyphae

Abstract

Live hyphae of 13 different fungi lysed faster (from 2 to 7 days) in a fertile garden soil than in an impoverished wheat-field soil (from 3 to 12 days). Also, rate of lysis was more rapid in wet than in dry soil. Two types of lysis occurred: disappearance of protoplasm and cell wall concurrently, a feature of wet soil; and loss of protoplasm leaving an empty cell wall, as seen in dry soil.