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Science 17 December 1982:
Vol. 218. no. 4578, pp. 1221 - 1222
DOI: 10.1126/science.218.4578.1221
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Articles

Nature's Ballistic Missile

E. JANE ROBB 1 and G. L. BARRON 2

1 Department of Botany and Genetics, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1
2 Department of Environmental Biology, University of Guelph

The parasitic fungus Haptoglossa mirabilis infects its rotifer host by means of a gun-shaped attack cell. The anterior end of the cell is elongated to form a barrel; the wall at the mouth is invaginated deep into the cell to form a bore. A walled chamber at the base of the bore houses a complex, missile-like attack apparatus. The projectile is fired from the gun cell at high speed to accomplish initial penetration of the host.

Submitted on February 19, 1982
Revised on August 24, 1982


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Thigmo responses in plants and fungi.
M. J. Jaffe, A. C. Leopold, and R. C. Staples (2002)
Am. J. Botany 89, 375-382
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