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Abstract
Summary: Liquid batch cultures of Fusarium culmorum showed a typical growth pattern coupled with a rapid fall in the pH of the medium followed by a rise in pH after the cessation of growth. Production of conidia was associated with this final pH rise. In glucose-limited continuous cultures without pH control, a low pH was maintained and the organism remained totally vegetative. Adjusting the pH to values above 5·0 for 6 h or more led to maximum production of conidia. The rate of development of conidia was independent of the growth rate but the rate of production of conidia was greatest at high growth rates. Glucose inhibited both production of conidia and the rate of development of conidia in phosphate-limited and nitrogen-limited cultures. The increased rates of conidium production at high growth rates were achieved not by the greater proliferation of apices, but by the development of a greater proportion of the apices into conidia.
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