Estimates of biomechanical forces in Magnaporthe grisea.

Journal article

The mechanical actions of the fungus Magnaporthe grisea raise many intriguing questions concerning the forces involved. These include: (1) the material properties of the appressorial wall; (2) the strength of the adhesive that keeps the appressorium anchored to the rice leaf surface; and (3) the forces involved in the penetration process whereby a peg is driven through the host cell wall. In this paper we give order of magnitude estimates for all three of these quantities. A simple Young-Laplace law type argument is used to show that the appressorial wall elastic modulus is of order 10-100 MPa; and an adaptation of standard adhesion theory indicates a lower bound on the strength of the appressorial adhesive to be of the order 500 J/m(2). Drawing on ideas from plasticity theory and ballistics, estimates of the penetration force raise interesting questions about experiments performed on the penetration of inert substrates by the fungus.

Authors: Goriely, A; Tabor, M

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: Mycological research
• Volume: 110
• Issue: Pt 7
• Pages: 755-759
• Publication date: 2006-07-01
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mycres.2006.03.014
• EISSN: 1469-8102
• ISSN: 0953-7562
• Language: English
• Keywords: Biomechanics; Pressure; Elasticity; Cell Wall; Oryza sativa; Melanins; Cell Adhesion; Models, Biological; Hyphae; Magnaporthe