Myxomycete Stemonitis in Fructification Phase

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Walter Piorkowski
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Myxomycete Stemonitis in Fructification Phase

Post by Walter Piorkowski »

Image

Image 1 - Cluster of Stemonitis fruiting bodies at full height.

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Image 2 - Another Stemonitis fruiting body cluster.


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Image 3 – Stalk detail showing stalk extension up and into the fruiting body along with a immature rising fruiting body.


Image 1- 35mm Canon Macro lens at f/5.6, no tube
Horizontal F.O.V. 10.2 mm
Image stack, 111 images at .001 inch increments
Diffused fiber optic illumination

Image 2- - 35mm Canon Macro lens at f/5.6, no tube
Horizontal F.O.V. 10.2 mm
Image stack, 132 images at .001 inch increments
Diffused fiber optic illumination

Image 3- 20mm Canon Macro lens, at f/5.6, 1) 30mm tube
Horizontal F.O.V. 3 mm
Image stack, 50 images at .001 inch increments
Diffused fiber optic illumination

Canon 10D
Combine ZM and Photoshop processing

Sometimes this myxomycete comes up in mass numbers. Although individual fruiting bodies, they are so tightly packed together that they appear to be one unit. This delicate jelly like mass will eventually dry, creating a spore producing individual, but still tightly packed. Some images of this phase will appear in a later post.

Sometimes however, something goes very wrong and the cluster turns into a dark brown mess looking like the stump of a tree sawn down with a saw. These do not appear to be capable of producing spores.

There is no doubt that this is the Genus Stemonitis, but I have trouble identifying the species. It most likely is axifera, a common and widespread species.

Walt

g4lab
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Post by g4lab »

When I saw your first image the thought that popped into my little bent mind was: "Formal Portrait of a Slime Mold"
(you will have to refresh my memory if that is not what a myxomycete is) :D
Very elegant image.

Walter Piorkowski
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Post by Walter Piorkowski »

Well g4lab your mind is neither bent or little as it happens that biologists call slime molds, myxomycetes. And so my mind looks big to all of you I use the big scientific word to impress. Thanks for the complement.
Walt

lauriek
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Post by lauriek »

Love that first shot, nicely composed!

Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

Interesting photos there Walt, glad to see you posting these. :D In my observations, the new sporangia will appear as a dark mass, somewhat like the stump of a fallen tree, as you described, but in the course of time, the sporangia begin to dry and they separate into nodding individuals and even the slightest of air current will cause the spores to become airborne. But of course these are my observations and not meant to detere from yours.

To visually identify the particular species is quite difficult. I would assume to do so, would be to take into account the length of the stipe and sporangia. From what I can tell they do seem to differ in species. However only microscopic examination of the spores and the capillitium will tell one for sure. Here of late I have been searching for and hoping to find the coenocytic (multinucleate) plasmodium of some species but alas no such luck, however I did come across a new species of myxomycete, for me that is, that I have never found before and have yet to identify it. :-k

One other thing and that is, "what is a myxomycete?" From various publications and other papers, I can only scantly decern that a myxomycete is only so after fruitification or that of the fruiting bodies having been formed, those are the myxomycetes, all that there is before hand, after the fusion of the myxoamoebae, is of course the plasmodium or the large coenocytic cell, that being the "slime mold." But, that is only to my limited understanding of these mysterious and marvelous organisms but however, we are trying to "bone-up." :lol:

Again some wonderful shots, always a pleasure to see them Walt, very nice work indeed. :smt023

Walter Piorkowski
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Post by Walter Piorkowski »

Hi lauriek, the first is my favorite too. I like your work also.

Nice to hear from you again Ken. You provide some good information as usual. In my experience, as limited as it is, I have seen some clusters that dry out with a varnish like coating on them and they seem to rot away without ever sporing. otherwise it is as you say.

On the same log that these specimens were taken from, two distinctly different stemonitis samples appeared. I will shoot these in the lab and try some spore reviews to see the differance on that level as you mention. It is always an enjoyable and educational challenge.

Glad you like the images. Walt

Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

Walt wrote:
I have seen some clusters that dry out with a varnish like coating on them and they seem to rot away without ever sporing.
That sounds interesting there Walt. I have never ran across it but would like to. Seeing as how the process of fruitification can oftentimes be so sensitive, I would imagine just the slightest of things could cause that, maybe a fungal attack, cryptic slime mold beetles, snails, or maybe even a change in substrate pH could have come about during the process. The more I think about it, maybe intense light and above normal temps could possibly contribute to such a find. :-k I wish that I knew more about them. There are a number of papers that have been written on them but most are "pay per view" and probably way over my head anyway. Information presented in laymans terms is very limited, or so it seems. :-k

Adrian
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Post by Adrian »

fantastic examination, love your myxo work.

dmillard
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Post by dmillard »

Nice work - especially the first image!

Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

You know there is just one thing that puzzles me, well maybe more but this in particular. Just how are the amoebae formed within the spores and are they encysted? Certainly they cannot be free living or could they be? Who knows but it indeed is a curiosity. I would be interested in knowing, in laymans terms of course, how the amoebae come about and what the results would show if the genome of slime molds were mapped? :-k

Walter Piorkowski
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Post by Walter Piorkowski »

Thanks dmillard and hello Adrian. Hope your myxo work is going well.

Ken, you pose an interesting question as usual. I would assume that the spores contain many cells which if exposed to the correct conditions begin the makeup of the various components of the myxoamoeba which when complete leaves the spore. Sort of like stem cells being able to form into any type of cell to create an organ. What do you think?

I have even a more puzzling question. How does the "stuff" inside these fruiting bodies manage to form the spores in the first place. My idea has been that a sample of the protoplasmic mush or jelly, that surrounds the black stalk in these stemonitis for example, be put under the microscope and examined for some sign of what makes up the sores. I personally have been able to see nothing but mush but I will keep trying. Maybe the mush contains stem cells too?

Walt

Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

I would not know about stem cells Walt, those are way over my head. However, it is to my assumption that the spores themselves are haploid and unicellular, each containing one amoeba or myxoamoeba and both having been formed from the protoplasm of the diploid (2n) plasmodium, but how? It is also to my understanding at present, that with the spores being haploid and having only one set of chromosomes (1n), they are susceptable to mutation. Whether that has any bearing on the formation of the amoeba I do not know. Of course there is a complex biochemical process taking place here, along with meiosis and then maybe mitosis, that if it were explained to me, I would probably not know any more than what I know now but still I would like to read or have it explained to me. :-k

The "mush" you refer to forms the capillitium, which indirectly supports the spore mass, since there is no evidence of the spores actually attaching themselves at any point to the capillitium, the stalk or stipe that we see in turn supports the capillitum. So the spores and the capillitium are contained in that protoplasmic mush or mass that we see in your photograph but what processes are taking place in that mass, which we can not see? Probably an examination utilizing the light microscope might would answer some questions but the thing here is would one of us know what we are looking at? :lol: Professor Stephenson related in his book that these organisms were little understood and I can see why as there is scant information on them, that can be explained in laymans terms. As I mentioned before, what indepth information there is appears in "pay per view" downloads from sites like JUSTOR and Springerlink and those more than likely are not presented in laymans terms for the most part, considering the abstracts are not sometimes easily understood and I would hate to pay for information that I could not use or understand. It would be nice if I had a university nearby that could address my questions but alas there is not. Wonder why things have to be so complicated? Maybe that is why the call it "education," after awhile one gets smart enough to leave well enough alone. :lol:

beetleman
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Post by beetleman »

Wonderful Images Walter. I have not found any this year so far :cry:
Take Nothing but Pictures--Leave Nothing but Footprints.
Doug Breda

Walter Piorkowski
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Post by Walter Piorkowski »

Hi Doug, thanks. The midwest has experienced more than its share of rainfall this year. The likely cause of myxos popping up even on my own backyard. Most people I'm sure would prefer no flooding and fewer myxos.
Walt

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