Lab 1 visulization of different fungul species morphology; cell counting with hemocytometer,

Objective:

To Learn different micosopy techniques.

Method:

1.       Squash mount: put a drop of water on the middle of slide; pick a small agar block from fungal culture plate; place on the center of the water drop; cover the agar block with a cover slide; slight twist the cover slide to aside to squash the agar block; observe under microsopce.

2.       Tap mount: put a drop of water on the middle of slide; use a double side tape to touch the surface of a fungal culture; place the tape on the water drop with the specimen side down; directly observe under microsope.

3.       Hemocytometer usage: The coverslip is placed over the counting surface prior to putting on the cell suspension. The suspension is introduced into one of the V-shaped wells with a pasteur or other type of pipet. The area under the coverslip fills by capillary action. Enough liquid should be introduced so that the mirrored surface is just covered. The charged counting chamber is then placed on the microscope stage and the counting grid is brought into focus at low power.

Result and conclusion:

1.       Aspergillus niger: Aspergillus niger is a fungus and one of the most common species of the genus Aspergillus. It causes a disease called black mold on certain fruits and vegetables such as grapes, onions, and peanuts, and is a common contaminant of food. Each cell is a conidia. The usually form a chain.

 

 

2.       Cladosporium: Cladosporium is a genus of fungi including some of the most common indoor and outdoor molds. Species produce olive-green to brown or black colonies, and have dark-pigmented conidia that are formed in simple or branching chains.

 

3.       Pythium: Pythium is a genus of parasitic oomycete. They are commonly called water moulds. Most species are plant parasites.

 

4.      Thkelaviopsis bassicola: this fungus forms two types of  spores, the darker one is called aleuriospore; the light color one is called phialospore.

 5. Counting cell number with hemacytometer:  full grid on a hemacytometer contains nine squares, each of which is 1 mm square The central counting area of the hemacytometercontains 25 large squares and each large square has 16 smaller squares. When counting, count only those cells on the lines of two sides of the large square to avoid counting cells twice.