Fungal Spores

[micro_pix]

Here are some photos of fungal spores and the basidiocarps that produced them.

They are all taken under the 100X oil objective (with the exception of the Entoloma which was 40x). They vary in size but are between 7 and 18 microns in length. The first four are from the same genus.
The spores are as photographed, the background has been cleaned and I thought they looked better with a slight shadow which I added in Photoshop.

Panaeolus semiovatus




Panaeolus acuminatus



Panaeolus fimicola



Panaeolus papilionaceus



Hypholoma ericaeum



Inocybe stellatospora

[Chris S.]

Wonderful! Very effective to see field shots of the fruiting bodies juxtaposed with the spores as you have done. And to have four species of the Panaeolus genus placed so neatly for comparison.

Did you treat any of those spores with KOH?

--Chris S.

[micro_pix]

Thanks Chris. No I didn’t use KOH with these, they were in water. The Panaeolus spores are all naturally dark, the spore print is what I’d calll black/brown, and the Hypholoma and Inocybe spores are mid brown.

I always try and avoid using KOH on fresh spores as I get a better record of their natural colour through the scope but you do need good resolution (or DIC) to see the hyaline spores easily. I have often used lacto-phenol cotton blue if I’m looking for surface ornamentation on the spores but if you have it, DIC is great for that too.

[Pitufo]

Very nice work and good to have photographs of the spores. This group can be hard to tell apart and spore descriptions are not nearly as helpful.

I didn't realise that KOH had an effect on the colour of spores but it can change their size slightly I believe.

[micro_pix]

Thanks Pitufo. It’s a long time since I looked at spores in KOH as I invariably look at fresh spores in water. I thought I remember that it made the spores appear a bit darker/browner but it isn’t regarded as a stain.

[leonardturner]

Very interesting comparisons, nicely done and presented. The discussion of KOH is interesting as well. As you may know, the "KOH prep" has often been used diagnostically in medicine to dissolve away flakes of skin gently scraped from a rash, revealing the fungal elements within. I have often done this to good effect.

[micro_pix]

Thanks Leonard. I knew KOH was caustic and damaging to skin but I hadn't realised it was used for that purpose.

Here are three photos of hyaline (clear/white) spores. All in water; the first is in brightfield, the second is in darkfield and the third in DIC.

Helvella crispa spores in water.



Entoloma conferendum spores in darkfield.



Laccaria laccata spores in DIC.

[Pitufo]

Great images

KMn04 3% can also be used to darken spore colour and allows hyaline spores to be seen more easily https://micro-science.co.uk/product/pot ... manganate/

[Sumguy01]

Very nice.
Interesting and informative.
Thanks for sharing.

[Jacek]

Good job, very nice

[vasselle]

très bon travail et les images sont belles

[micro_pix]

Thanks for the nice comments.

Dave

[Walter Piorkowski]

Very nice project. Enjoying your images. Walt

[ChrisR]

+1 enjoying these. What size are the spores, approx?

[micro_pix]

Thanks for the comments.

Hi Chris,
The spores are roughly around 8 or 9 microns for the Inocybe spore (they are not all depicted at the same scale) to around 18 microns for the largest of the Panaeolus spores (Panaeolus semiovatus). The Entoloma darkfield was a 40X objective rather than the 100X.

Dave