Fig. 6

Effect of ΔZFC3 mutant on pathogenicity. a Rice seedlings cultivar Jijing88 were inoculated by spraying method. Typical leaves were photographed at 7 dpi. b Barley seedlings cultivar Golden Promise were inoculated by spraying method. Typical leaves were photographed at 5 dpi. c Observation of the invasive hyphal growth inside the rice leaf sheath inoculated with the WT, ΔZFC3 and ZFC3-C strains, Scale bar = 10 μm (d) Statistics of invasive IH hyphal growth rate at 50 appressorium penetration sites by rating the level I to IV. 1 = IH length shorter than 10 mm with no branching; 2 = IH length is 10–20 mm with 0–2 branches; 3 = IH length is longer than 20 mm and/or with more than 2 branches within one cell; 4 = IH has spread to adjacent cells