graminearum caused nuclear abnormalities and cell death in nearby maize cells from 48 hai.

F. (A) Representative bright field images of maize stalk pith tissues. Images 12, 48 and 96 hai were taken of the cross sections preceding the hyphal front (as indicated by the red broken line in Fig 2A). Yellow arrowheads point to nucleus-like structures. V: vascular bundle. (B) Representative images showing infected maize pith tissues before and after 1 M NaCl treatment for 10 min. F. graminearum AmCyanPH-1 hyphae are visible as green lines under a GFP channel. Red arrows point to maize cell membranes away from cell walls. H: hyphae. White scale bar = 100 μm. (C) The shortest distances between fungal hyphae and maize cells undergoing plasmolysis were measured. Error bars indicate SD. Sample size n ≥4. Images in this figure were all taken from cross sections. hai: hours after inoculation.