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Wards_Working_with_Bacteria_Fungi_Literature

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+ ward ' s science 5100 West Henrietta Road • PO Box 92912 • Rochester, New York 14692-9012 • p: 800 962-2660 • wardsci.com Special Techniques for Some Fungi Cultures (continued) When hyphae of the opposite strains grow to meet in the center of the Petri plate, a line of mature zygospores will develop where the strains meet. Have students observe these under a dissecting microscope and sketch what they see. Macrofungi Cultures: Corprinus and Schizophyllum cultures are shipped in jars. They can be subcultured, using sterile technique, by excising a bit of the media upon which they are growing, and transferring it to fresh medium in another jar. The jar should be large enough to allow the reproductive structures to develop. Other larger fungi may be kept in jars to display the morphology of the repro- ductive structures and in some cases part of the mycelium. Larger fungi may also be maintained in a terrarium. They should be collected with a large portion of the substrate to be sure that the mycelium is included. Mushrooms, bracket fungi, coral fungi, and others are easily collected and can demon- strate diversity within the fungi kingdom. They can also be used to illustrate the structural differences between the phyla. Making wet mount preparations: Observe the mold colony under a dissecting microscope. Following sterile technique, use an inoculat- ing needle or loop to remove a small amount of mycelium bearing conidia or sporangia. Place this in a drop of water on a clean micro-scope slide. Tease it apart with the needle, if necessary. If staining is desired, add one or two drops of methylene blue. Cover with a coverslip and observe under low (40X) then high (400X) power of a compound scope. Draw what you see. Constructing a moist chamber: Use our Silicone Culture Gum to construct a moist chamber, so that you can grow a fungus as a slide culture and observe the entire life cycle. This simple yet beautiful preparation will let you see all phases in the growth of the fungus. The fungus is grown on a block of agar under a coverslip on a glass slide. 1. Roll a marble-sized ball of culture gum and flatten it to form a disc about ¼" thick. 2. Press the disc to a clean microscope slide. Use a cork borer to cut and remove the center of the disc. 3. Immerse the slide into 70% alcohol to sterilize and let dry. Cover with a sterile coverslip. 4. Use a sterile scalpel to cut a small block of agar. Remove the coverslip from the slide. 5. Place the agar block in the center of the slide. Using a sterile needle, inoculate the center of each of the four sides of the agar block with mycelia or spores. Replace the coverslip. You can observe the growth of the fungus over a number of days. If necessary, remove the coverslip and add a drop of distilled water to keep the chamber moist.

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