Fungi in plant cells

Franz Neidl · Post by **Franz Neidl** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 11:24 am

Hello Jan,

an interesting picture. What kind of plant is it? Could the "fungus" be a Tracheid?

Franz

Jan l'Amie · Post by **Jan l'Amie** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 1:03 pm

The plant is Saintpaulia. No idea about the fungus.

Cactusdave · Post by **Cactusdave** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 3:04 pm

Yes, I think the 'fungus' is part of the wall of a spiral tracheid. These are specialised cells in the xylem tissue of plants that are involved in the transport of water and salts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracheid. The spiral wall has been pulled out in the section cutting process and now looks a bit like a fungal hypha.

Mitch640 · Post by **Mitch640** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 4:02 pm

Nice image. I think I have seen what Dave is talking about. I have seen these coils from the end, inside a celery leaf stem section, and I can see where one might get snagged and pulled out in the direction of the cut.

Jan l'Amie · Post by **Jan l'Amie** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 1:53 am

Thanks for the info. I thought they are fungus threads.

Mitch640 · Post by **Mitch640** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 3:47 am

Jan, here is a slice I made and you can see the coils, and one even looks like it was snagged and almost pulled out, like yours.

http://www.flashbax.com/micro/images/pl ... 082811.jpg

Jan l'Amie · Post by **Jan l'Amie** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 11:15 am

Thanks Mitch.
The next photo's are from a plant fungus for sure.
The first one is a rust fungus in red beet (Beta vulgaris).
The other pictures are different types of spores.