BIOL 2P96 2020FW Lab 1

Laboratory 1
(Modified by Carpenter-Cleland, C., 2021)

Learning Objectives:
i. To learn about Lab and Biosafety.
ii. To highlight the importance of and practice aseptic technique.
iii. To introduce the microscope and calibration of the ocular micrometer.
iv. Recognize and describe the basic anatomy of organisms found within the phyla Oomycota,
Chytridiomycota, Blastocladiomycota.

Biosafety Presentation

Mycology lab can be an interesting and exciting experience, but at the outset, you should be aware of some
potential hazards. Although, the great majority of fungi or fungal like organisms are harmless, and many are
beneficial, certain organisms present varying degrees of risk to personnel within the lab, people outside the
laboratory, and the environment. It is important to remember that improper or careless handling of cultures is
dangerous and can result in injury to oneself, colleagues and or the environment.

The Lab and Biosafety Training PowerPoint under the Lab 1 lesson tool on Sakai will be presented in your first
lab. You should watch the presentation in advance and at any time you need.

Aseptic/Sterile Technique

Demonstration - Aseptic Technique

Proper aseptic (or sterile) technique is essential to prevent contamination of oneself, your coworkers, and
the environment. In addition, it is essential to prevent contamination of your work/culture with organisms
from the environment. Aseptic technique or aseptic transfer is not difficult and with a little practice and care,
you should easily acquire this essential skill. Prior to starting, all materials to be used must be sterilized and
your work area disinfected. All transfer work must be carried out within the zone of sterilization (i.e., close to
the flame).

Exercise 1: Aseptic technique

1. Label a 60mm agar plate with your name, lab day and time, and AT around the edge of the bottom plate
(agar side). By writing on the outer edge, viewing the culture is not blocked. The agar side is always labeled
in case the lid is lost.
2. Near a flame, aseptically, simple streak your labeled 60mm agar plate with sterile distilled water.
3. Stretch Parafilm around covering the edge where the top and bottom plates meet. This secures the lid while
allowing airflow and prevents contamination from outside the plate.

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The Microscope
(Carpenter-Cleland, C., 2013)

Figure 1.1 Nikon Microscope. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Optical_microscope_nikon_alphaphot.jpg

1. Adjustable ocular lenses: these lenses have a 10X magnification and are adjustable to the distance between
your eyes.
2. Nosepiece/turret: this rotating piece holds the objective lenses.
3. Objective lenses: these lenses are on a rotating turret and there are usually 4 objective lenses of 3.5X, 10X,
40X and 100X magnification.
4. Course focus: this knob allows for larger focusing movements. This knob should not be used when using the
40X or 100X objective lenses.
5. Fine focus: this knob sits on top of the course focus knob and allows for smaller focusing movements. This
should be the focus knob used while looking with the 40X and 100X objective lenses.
6. Stage: this is where the slide is placed horizontally and held with the stage clips.
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7. Light: this is the light source to illuminate the slide from below.
8. Condenser and iris diaphragm: these control how much light passes through to the slide.
9. Stage control knob: this knob hangs down from the stage and controls the motion of the slide from left to
right and top to bottom.

Using the Microscope

1. Plug in the microscope and turn the light source on to about half the full intensity.
2. Make sure the stage is lowered and place the slide on the stage between the clips. By eye, using the stage
control, move the specimen over the light.
3. Look through the ocular lenses and adjust the distance between them to suit your eyes. Adjust the light
intensity to suit your needs.
4. Turn the turret to set the lowest magnification of objective over the specimen.
5. Slowly bring the stage up using the coarse focus knob, while looking through the oculars. Bring the
specimen into focus.
6. By adjusting the slide with the stage control knobs, move the part of the specimen you want to look at into
the centre of your field of view.
7. Turn the turret to move the next highest magnification objective into place. You should be able to use the
fine focus knob to focus on the specimen.
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 to increase magnification. The 100X objective requires oil to properly focus. We will
not be requiring this objective in this course.
9. If you lose focus on the specimen, move the turret to the lowest objective and repeat steps 5 through 7.

Calibration of Ocular Micrometer

(Dano, J., 2012; modified by Carpenter-Cleland, C., 2016)

An ocular micrometer is a circular disk of glass that has uniform, but unspecified, graduations engraved
on its upper surface. As such, it must be calibrated for each objective before it can be used. The device used
to calibrate an ocular micrometer is called a stage micrometer. A stage micrometer is a microscope slide with a
microscopic ruler engraved into it. The markings on this ruler indicate that the major graduations are spaced
100 m (0.1mm) apart. The minor graduations are spaced 10 m (0.01 mm) apart. Note any instrument with
markings of known distance apart may be used as a stage micrometer.

Exercise 2: Calibration of the Ocular Micrometer

1. Center the stage micrometer on the microscope, beneath the low power (4X) objective and bring it into
focus. Turn the turret to the next objective (10X) and focus again. Finally, turn the turret to the 40X
objective and focus the slide (stage micrometer).
2. Rotate the eyepiece until the graduations of the ocular micrometer lie parallel to the lines of the stage
micrometer. Adjust the stage until the first (left) line of the ocular micrometer is aligned with one of the
marks on the stage micrometer.
3. Determine how many of the ocular graduations coincide exactly within a given number of spaces on
the stage micrometer at the 40X objective. Occasionally, one stage micrometer division will include an
even number of ocular divisions however; in most instances, several stage graduations will be involved.
You will get the greatest accuracy in calibration if you use more than one ocular micrometer spaces.

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4. Because the smallest space on the stage micrometer equals 0.01mm (millimeter) or 10 m
(micrometer), you can calibrate the ocular micrometer by dividing the distance on the stage by the
corresponding number of ocular units.
5. Record your results and calculation below in Table 1.1 and on page 15 for your assignment. You will
want to have memorized the length of one ocular division for each lab to be able to calculate the
size of structures in the microscope.

Calculation:
¿ stage divisions´ 10 mm
one division on an ocular=
¿ ocular divisions
Table 1.1: Calibration of ocular micrometer.
Objective # of Stage # of Ocular Calculation Length of one

Divisions Divisions ocular

40X

Example:

Figure 1.2 Calibration of an ocular micrometer (top) using a stage micrometer (bottom) (Barta, T. 2001).

Example: 5 stage divisions x 10 m per stage division = 2.5 m per ocular

20 ocular

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Figure 1.3 Calibration of an ocular micrometer using a stage micrometer (Harley & Prescott, 1999).

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Fungal Terminology, Morphology and Taxonomy

Prior to beginning your lab examining the morphology and taxonomy of fungi and fungi-like organisms, please,
read the descriptions below of some terms and structures that you will need to be familiar with. It is a good idea
to create a list of definitions for the bolded words.

Microscopically, fungal cells are observed either as hyphae (moulds) or as yeasts (Lab 3). The colonization of
a food source, once reached, is achieved most efficiently by growth as a system of branching tubes. The
hyphae which branch to eventually form a network of hyphae called mycelium. Hyphae are generally quite
uniform in different taxonomic groups of fungi. One of the few features of distinction that they do offer is the
presence or absence of cross-walls or septa. Aseptate hyphae are hyphae lacking septa or cross walls and
are also known as coenocytic. Septate hyphae have evident cross walls.

Figure 1.4 Types of hyphae (Murray, et al., p. 299.)

Vegetative versus Aerial Hyphae In a cross section of a mould culture, the vegetative or
food-absorbing portion of the mycelium is under the surface of the agar. The aerial hyphae
extend above the agar surface and may support reproductive structures, commonly called
conidia.

Non-reproductive vegetative Hyphae - Vegetative hyphae may possess some very distinct
Non-reproductive characteristics, which may aid in speciation.
-Favic Chandeliers resemble the antlers of a deer, with the ends of the hyphae blunt and branched.
-Nodular Organs are knots of twisted hyphae.
-Racquet Hyphae - the hyphae resemble tennis racquets placed end to end.
-Spiral Hyphae may be flat or may turn like a corkscrew.

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Figure 1.5. Vegetative (non-reproductive) hyphae types (Kerns & Blevins, 1997).

Spores of fungi
The reproduction by means of small spores is a cornerstone in the ecology of fungi. Only a few fungi make do
without spores, surviving solely by means of mycelia and sclerotia. Spores may be organs of sexual or
asexual reproduction, and they are involved in dispersal and survival. The morphology and structure of fungal
spores show great variability, fungal spores vary in size, shape and colour. They may be unicellular or
multicellular, branched or unbranched or sometimes spirally coiled, thin-walled or thick-walled with hyaline or
pigmented walls, dry or sticky, smooth or ornamented by mucilaginous extensions, spines, or folds. In addition,
many fungi are capable of producing more than one type of spore; each having its own role to play in the life
cycle of the fungus (Alexopoulus et. al., 1996) (Carlile et. al., 2007) (Moore et. Al., 2011) (Sharma, 2005).

Types of spores
Fungi produce two main types of asexual spore: a sporangiospore or a conidiospore (pl.;conidia), and three
main types of sexual spores: zygospores, ascospores and basidiospores. Each will be studied in more
detail in later labs.

Kingdom Straminipila

‘Water Moulds’
Phylum Oomycota
Orders: Pythiales, Peronosporales and Saprolegniales

The Oomycota, also known as water moulds, are a large group of terrestrial and aquatic organisms that are of
particular interest because many of them are parasites on other organisms including plants, animals and
humans. The Oomycetes have in the past been categorized into different kingdoms and other groups, and
some confusion of their taxonomic status still exists today. Commonly called the “lower fungi,” they differ from
fungi in several ways:

- Oomycete cell walls contain the polysaccharide cellulose; chitin is also present in some species. In
the true fungi no cellulose is found, only chitin.
- Wall proteins also differ with hydroxyproline found in Oomycota while proline is present in the true
fungi.
- Mitochondria the cristae are tubular while in true fungi the cristae are plate-like.
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- There are also differences in the zoospores which are biflagellate in the Oomycetes (heterkont:one
tinsel, one whiplash) and uniflagellate in the Chytridiomycetes.
- Vegetative ploidy is 2n in the Oomycota; 1n or n+n in the fungi.
- There are a number of biochemical synthetic pathways (lysine biosynthesis) and storage
compounds in the Oomycetes that are very different than those present in true fungi.

Most species of Oomycota can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Sexual reproduction is via heterogamy
and specifically said to be "oogamous" (one structure, the oogonium is large and sessile, while the
antheridium grows towards it). Fertilization occurs by direct injection of the male (nuclei) from the antheridium
into the egg contained in the oogonium. A swimming sperm is absent in the Oomycota. This type of sexual
reproduction is referred to as gametangial copulation. The eggs and sperms are products of meiosis and the
only parts of the life cycle that are haploid. Their union results in the production of a thick-walled zygote, called
the "oospore", which serves as a resting spore and is diploid. All vegetative structures of Oomycota are
therefore diploid. This is in contrast to the Fungi in which vegetative nuclei are usually haploid, the first division
after karyogamy being meiotic.

Oomycota also reproduce asexually by a (zoo) sporangium (pl. (zoo) sporangia) that produces motile
zoospores that have two flagella. A sporangium is a swollen hyphal tip, separated from the rest of the hypha
by a cross-wall. Sporangia differ among various Oomycetes with respect to the shape of the sporangium, its
mode of germination, and the structure of the sporangiospore.

Within the Oomycota the thallus may be holocarpic or eucarpic. In holocarpic species the entire thallus
functions as a sporangium (Lagenidiales). In eucarpic species the thallus is differentiated into distinct
vegetative and reproductive portions (Alexopoulus et. al., 1996) (Carlile et. al., 2007) (Moore et. Al., 2011)
(Sharma, 2005) (Webster & Weber, 2007).

Phylum Oomycota
Order Saprolegniales
Genera Saprolegnia

Species of Saprolegnia sp. are common in soil and in freshwater as saprotrophs on plant and animal remains.
Certain species cause disease in fish and their eggs. Salmonid fish are particularly affected, and the disease
can cause significant damage in fish farms around the world. The life cycle of Saprolegnia is summarized in
Fig 2.3. Asexual reproduction is via a sporangium (pl. sporangia). The Saprolegniales are the only order within
the Oomycota to produce both primary (auxiliary) and secondary (principal) zoospores. Sexual reproduction is
via an oogonium and antheridium and results in the formation of oospores. All members of the genus
Saprolegnia characterized to date are homothallic; i.e. a culture derived from a single zoospore will give rise
to a mycelium forming both oogonia and antheridia (Alexopoulus et. al., 1996) (Carlile et. al., 2007) (Moore et.
Al., 2011) (Sharma, 2005) (Webster & Weber, 2007).

Examine the prepared slide of Saprolegnia (wm) and locate each of the following: zoosporangia, hyphae,
oogonium, antheridium, oosphere, and oospore.

1. Describe the hyphae.

2. Scan across the slide and locate a zoosporangium. Note how the zoosporangia are not differentiated, in this
genus, from the mycelium and resemble hyphal cells. However, they can be easily located since they are
delimited by septa and have much denser protoplasm than the rest of the mycelium.
3. Locate an oogonium. Can you see the antheridium? They may be difficult to see on prepared slides.
4. Note that there is more than a single egg in each oogonium, a characteristic of the Saprolegniales.
5. How do oospores differ from oospheres?
6. Make a drawing of the different structures that you observe.

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Diagrammatic life cycle of Saprolegnia.

Figure 1.6 Life cycle of Saprolegnia sp. (Moore, et. al. 2011, pg. 76)

Phylum Oomycota
Order Pythiales
Genera Phytophthora

Phytophthora sp. (Plant destroyer)

Phytophthora (pronounced fy-TOF-thor-uh) the name, meaning "infesting plant destroyer" is especially
appropriate, as most species are highly destructive plant pathogens. The best known is P. infestans, cause of
potato blight. This species can kill off a field of potatoes in just a few days! In contrast to Saprolegnia this
species is usually heterothallic, requiring the presence of two different strains for sexual reproduction to occur
(not all species are heterothallic). Whether a given strain will be functionally male (producing antheridia) or
female (producing oogonia) is, however, under nutritional control. As with Saprolegnia, fertilization results in a
thick-walled zygote known as an oospore. Oospores function as resting spores.

Asexual reproduction is, in contrast, highly efficient and can result in rapid infestation of crops. Branched
sporangia emerge from the leaves, commonly through the stomata, and hygroscopic twisting of the
sporangiophore occurs with changes in humidity, flicking off the sporangia into the wind. When wind-borne
sporangia land on a moist leaf surface, they germinate by production of germ-tubes or, at cooler temperatures
(9 to 15 °C.), by production of motile zoospores that may be dispersed further by swimming and splashing.
Infection of the new host plant may take place inside 2 hours and production of new sporangia within 3 to 5
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days. Thick- walled asexual chlamydospores have also been described for many Phytophthora species and
can survive in the soil for many years.

Diagram your observations from the prepared slide.

1. Examine the Phytophthora infestans (leaf) slide under a compound microscope (10X) focus on the lower
surface of the leaf and locate the hyphae poking out of the stomata.
2. Move to the 40X and locate the oval-shaped sporangia that have fallen off. Note the size of the sporangia.
Are the zoospores visible?
3. These zoospores have two flagella; a whiplash flagellum faces the back and pushes the spore through the
water and a tinsel flagellum points forward and pulls the spores through the water.
4. Now examine the slide of Phytophthora infestans tuber at the side bench. On this slide locate the thick

that have penetrated into the cells of the host plant. A haustorium is a specialized hyphal invagination of plant
cells. Commonly found in biotrophic associations. These haustoria digest the contents of these infected cells
and absorb the nutrients.

Phylum Oomycota
Order Peronosporales (Downy mildews and the white rusts)

The Peronosporales are obligate biotrophic pathogens of vascular plants, obtaining their nourishment only
from living cells. They cannot be grown in culture apart from their living host. Any one species of downy mildew
is specific to only one or a few related host genera. For example, Plasmopara viticola is potentially a very
destructive pathogen of grape vines; Peronospora parasitica attacks members of the Cruciferae family.
Another feature of the Peronosporales is the tendency of their sporangia to germinate directly, rather than by
releasing zoospores. Many species have lost the ability to produce zoospores altogether, their sporangia being
functional conidia. In this group, the sporangiophores are no longer unspecialized hyphal tips, but are borne on
well-differentiated, branched, aerial sporangiophores. Sexual reproduction is by means of oospores, which are
formed within the host tissue and survive adverse conditions after host death.

Downy mildew
Examine a prepared slides of Peronospora parasitica on a cross section of a mustard plant.
1. Obtain a slide of Peronospora parasitica. Scan the slide under low magnification.
2. Focus on the outer edge of the plant stem and locate the branching structures with the small round spheres
attached. These are the sporangiophores of Peronospora parasitica.
3. Now move into the host cells and locate the branched lobed haustoria.
4. Can you find any oospores embedded in the plant tissue?
5. Diagram your observations.

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Fig 1.7 The long structure is the hyphae, whereas the little spheres are haustoria. Bigger dark spheres are
oospores (Boutet, Emmanual 2006).

Examine a prepared slides of Plasmopara viticola stem and leaf.

1. Scan the slide under low magnification.
2. Focus on the outer edge of the plant stem and locate the branching structures with the small round spheres
attached. These are the sporangiophores of Plasmopara viticola.

If available, examine the diseased plant material on display.

White Rusts

The white rusts are obligate plant parasites on flowering plants and belong to the genus Albugo. Species are
differentiated by host and oospore ornamentation. The life history of Albugo is similar to that exhibited by many
other Oomycetes except in the production of sporangiophores and sporangia. The club shaped
sporangiophores are contained within the host tissue, and each produces several sporangia under the
epidermis. The pressure exerted by the production of sporangia and mycelium against the epidermis causes
the epidermis to rupture liberating the sporangia and forming white crust on the host tissue (Alexopoulus et. al.,
1996) (Carlile et. al., 2007) (Moore et. Al., 2011) (Sharma, 2005) (Webster & Weber, 2007).

Examine a prepared slide of Albugo bliti.

1. Scan the slide under low magnification.
2. Locate an oospore within the host plant tissue.
3. Now find an area where the host epidermis tissue has burst. Examine the sporangiophores with
sporangial chains.
4. Make a labeled drawing of each structure for your own records.

Figure 1.8 Albugo candida, a common white rust fungus, as it would appear under a high-power light
microscope. A. Cross section of a typical sorus showing chains of sporangia borne on short stalks
(sporangiophores), which have burst through the host epidermis and are being released. The mycelium of the
fungus is intercellular except for the small, spherical haustoria in the host cells; B. close-up of three

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sporangiophores with sporangial chains and two loose sporangia; C. two oospores, the upper one is mature
within a persistent, thin oogonial wall (drawing by Lenore Gray).

Kingdom Fungi

The Chytrids
Phylum Chytridiomycota

The Chytridiomycota are the first true fungi that we have encountered in the lab. According to Kendrick (2000),
the Chytridiomycota represent a modern survival of the ancestral line that evolved into the eumycotan fungi. So
what do the chytridiomycota tell us about the origin of fungi?

- First of all, although certain members of this group live in the soil they are predominantly aquatic, and
they all require water to complete their lifecycle. This means that fungi probably got their start in the
water, as did plants and vertebrates.
- Secondly, chytrids (depending on the species) produce flagellated mitospores, flagellated meiospores
and flagellated gametes -- their reproductive cells have a flagellum that allows them to swim. No other
fungi have flagella, which suggests that the other fungi lost this trait at some point in their evolutionary
history.
- Finally, like other fungi, chytrids have chitin strengthening their cell walls.

As members of terrestrial and aquatic microbial communities, chytrids play an important ecological role in the
degradation of recalcitrant materials like keratin, chitin, and cellulose. Chytrids live saprobically or as parasites
in, or on, a number of different organisms and substrates such as pollen grains, insect exoskeletons, protists
and small invertebrates, amphibian skin, other fungi, pieces of plants, fruits, and waterlogged twigs. The
Chytridiomycota are classified into four orders. We will have a brief look at the Chytridiales.

Phylum Chytridiomycota
Order Chytridiales

In Synchytrium endobioticum the thallus is endobiotic (growth inside a living organism) and holocarpic (entire
thallus at maturity becomes a reproductive organ). Synchytrium endobioticum is the causative agent of black
wart in potatoes.

Examine a prepared slide of Synchytrium endobioticum and note how the whole thallus is contained within the
host cell.

Phylum Blastocladiomycota (Blastocladiales)

This phylum used to be known as the Class Blastocladiales under the Phylum of Chytridiomycota and has now
been isolated into its own phylum. Species of this phylum are found to be saproptrophs and parasites of other
fungi, plants, algae and invertebrates. Here the thallus has both broad true hyphae and narrow rhizoids.
Allomyces arbusculus, whose life cycle is illustrated in Fig 1.9, exhibits alternation of generations. Alternation
of generations refers to lifecycles that include both haploid and diploid stages that are multicellular. In other
words an organism that undergoes mitosis of its haploid cells is said to have alternation of lifecycle.

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Fig 1.9 Life cycle of Allomyces (Moore et. al., 2020, pg. 110)

Phylum Blastocladiomycota
Order Blastocladiales

Spend a few minutes studying the life cycle of Allomyces arbusculus. The mycelium of both the haploid stage
and diploid stage are indistinguishable but each phase may be identified by closely studying the gametangia
and sporangia. There are slides of each stage available in the lab.
1. Examine a prepared slide of Allomyces arbusculus sporothallus w.m (asexual plant) and observe
the well-developed branched mycelium.
2. Note how the thallus is eucarpic, differentiated into a trunk-like portion bearing rhizoids and
branched hyphae. The sporothallus is diploid and produces two types of sporangia: colorless,
elongated mitosporangia, and dark pigmented, rounder, resistant meiosporangia. Can you observe
both types of sporangia? Can you observe released mitospores on the slide.
3. Now examine a slide of Allomyces arbusculus gametothallus w.m. (sexual plant). The larger female
gametangia occur at the end of the hyphae, with the smaller male gametangia immediately below.
4. Examine the two demo plates under the disecting scope, if available.

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Literature Cited:

Alexopoulus, C.J., C.W. Mims, and M.Blackwell. (1996). Introductory Mycology (4th ed.). John Wiley & Sons,
New York.

Barta, T. (2001) BCereusmicrom.jpg http://biology.uwsp.edu/faculty/TBarta/for%20web/BCereusmicrom.jpg

Retrieved June 2006

Carlile, M.J., S.C. Watkinson, and G. W. Gooday. (2007). The Fungi (6th ed.). Elsevier Academic Press,
London.

Dano, J. (2012) BIOL 2P98 D2 2012FW Principles of Microbiology Lab Manual. St. Catharines: Brock
University.

Harley, J.P. & Prescott, L.M. (1999) Laboratory Exercises in Microbiology. (4th edition). Dubuque, IA: Wm. C.
Brown Publisher.

Moore, D., G.D. Robson, and A.P.J. Trinci (2011) 21st Century Guidebook to Fungi. Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge.

Moore, D., G.D. Robson, and A.P.J. Trinci (2020) 21st Century Guidebook to Fungi, 2nd edition, online.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Sharma P.D. (2005). Fungi and Allied Organisms. Oxford: Alpha Science International.

Webster J. and R.W.S. Weber. (2007) Introduction to Fungi. (3rd ed.) Cambridge University Press.

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Lab 1 Assignment Quiz can be found on Sakai under Tests & Quizzes.
Answer the questions on these pages and then by filling in the Organisms charts will help to answer the
questions on the quiz. There will also be questions from the Lab and Biosafety Presentation on the Lab 1
Assignment Quiz. Submit your quiz in Tests & Quizzes on Sakai before 11:55pm on Sun Jan 24th. (You will
not be submitting these two pages, only for reference to answer Quiz questions.)

1. Aseptic technique plate. Draw a circle for a plate and label it properly.

2. Fill in the table below. Use the image provided here to calculate the length of one ocular using the 40X
objective.

Stage divisions

Ocular divisions

From Table 1.1: Calibration of ocular micrometer.

Objective # of Stage # of Ocular Calculation Length of one

Divisions Divisions Ocular (m)

40X

2. Sample calculation: If the diameter of a spore is the length of 2 ocular divisions, calculate its diameter in m
using the answer from above.

3. What is the importance of haustoria in the parasitism of plants?

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4. Organism Chart – Lab 1 Fill in Kingdom, Phylum, Class or/and Order then below those fill in the areas
that are indicative of, important to or with the characteristics that can be used to distinguish from the
other organisms and host.
Organism Saprolegnia Phytophthora Plasmopara Albugo Synchytrium Allomyces
viticola / bliiti
Peronospora
parasitica
Kingdom Fungi
Phylum or Blastocladio
sub-phylum mycota
Class
Sub-class
Order Blastocladial
es
Distinguishing Flagellated
characteristics mitospores,
meiospores
and gametes
Host/ Type of Freshwater
environment ponds, mud
saprotroph
Vegetative sporothallus
state
Vegetative 2n diploid
ploidy
Reproductive Gametothallu
state s
Fruiting sporangia
structure
Type of Gametes
plasmogamy fuse
Reproductive Mitosis of
ploidy haploid
gametothallu
s leads to
haploid
gametes
Type of sexual oospore
spore
Site of zygote
karyogamy
Site of meiosis sporangium

Cell wall Chitin

composition
Suggested A lifecycle with Sporangiophore, Zoosporangia Sorus within Endobiotic, Sporothalli w/
drawings sporangiophor zoosporangiaoo haustoria host tissue holocarpic mitosporangia
e, gonium thallus Gametothalli w/
zoosporangia, haustoria gametangia
oogonia

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