Effects of a fraction from maize root exudates on haploid strains of Sporisorium reilianum f. sp. zeae

Sporisorium reilianum f. sp. zeae is the causal agent of head smut of maize. Although the main symptom of this disease is the formation of a black fungal sorus on the reproductive parts of the maize, the infection always occurs via the roots. Early infection stages are characterised by a hyphal proliferation of the fungus around the roots. In this paper, we describe effects of a fraction extracted from maize root exudates on growth of S. reilianum f. sp. zeae. The fungus grew as a yeast form on artificial medium, but in presence of these fractions, some yeasts switched to a hyphal form. In addition, an increased proliferation of the yeast form was also observed with exudates from a variety of maize susceptible to head smut. In the presence of exudates obtained from a tolerant variety of maize, proliferation of the yeast form was inhibited, whereas the induction of yeast-hypha transition was always observed. These results indicated that some molecules in root exudates could play a role in the pre-infectious stage between maize and S. reilianum f. sp. zeae.