Fig. 4.

Heterokaryon formation in planta following mixed infection. a, b Eggplant seedlings were artificially infected with mixed inocula of “compatible” and “incompatible” combinations of V. dahliae strains. The pathogen was re-isolated from stem sections (from eight xylem chips along the stem of each plant) of 17 infected plants per strain combination, 40 days after inoculation. From each treated plant, three xylem chips were transferred to PDA (controls of re-isolation), while the remaining five were transferred to double-selective PDA supplemented with hygB and G418, to select for heterokaryotic growth. Mock-infected plants (with water) and single-strain infections were used as controls. c Similarly to b, for seedlings infected with mixed inocula of strains. d Summary of tested pairings and results