ABSTRACT
The abundant elliptical mesoprotoplast stage was followed by spindle-shaped protoplasts. The growth of protoplasts as separate entities in shaken cultures and the observation of nuclear division in individual swellings in stationary cultures were further evidence of the potential autonomy of the individual swellings in a chain. D. Tyrrell and J. F. Peberdy have isolated protoplasts from Entomophthora virulenta mycelia using lytic enzymes derived from Trichoderma harzianum. G. B. Dunphy and R. A. Nolan studied the behavior of E. egressa protoplasts exposed to either trypsin or papain when incubated with spruce budworm granulocytes exposed to either trypsin or papain. Although the production of protoplasts by representatives of the Entomophthorales had been documented in 1880s, it was not until spontaneous release of protoplasts by E. egressa was reported in 1972 that intensive research efforts with protoplasts from this group began. Additional studies are focusing on the sequencing of the E. egressa genome, study of latent viruses and mammalian and invertebrate safety testing.
