A mushroom seen growing in my kitchen garden was plucked and washed. I tried to take its spore prints as taught in my practical class. For 2 days, I placed the cap of mushrrom under a glass cover and obtained a spore print. The spore print thus obtained was used to study the spores…
Tag: #sd@foldscopechandigarh
Rotting apple under foldscope
I and my friend Divya had purchased apples from a mart and one of the apples was rotten. Learning foldscopy is amazing, as you try it everywhere. We tried to peep through a foldscope to see the microbes that had caused it. This post is open to read and review on The Winnower.
Studying Post- harvest losses in fruits during storage using foldscope
Apples are a delicacy of North India and are supplied from Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh to the entire India. Long distance transport requires a proper storage at low temperature. However, certain losses may occur during storage. An apple obtained from supermarket showed a rotting spot. A sample was taken from the infected area…
Onion Root Tip
I have recently got an opportunity to attend a workshop at GGDSD college, CHANDIGARH. I was amazed to see Foldscope and its wonderful working. The slide which I have seen was of onion root tip. Harsh
Tutorial on Spore prints of mushrooms
Spore prints – These are made by the many microscopic spores falling from the mushroom, leaving a photographic impression. Significance – Each mushroom forms a characteristic pattern, so useful in identification and also a source of obtaining clean and homogenous spores for mushroom cultivation. Methodology: Pick out a mature mushroom Remove the stem so that…
Spoilage of dairy products
Milk cream samples obtained from a dairy showed fungal growth. On foldscoping the sample, sporangia were observed on long sporangiophores. The fungal hyphae had grown extensively to form a mat- like structure. Is it a fungal biofilm ? This post is open to read and review on The Winnower.
Moldy growth on carrot during storage
Post-harvest losses of vegetables and fruits due to fungal growth during storage lead to heavy losses to farmers financially. I collected a sample of carrot from vegetable market which had fungal growth on it. On observing through a foldscope, I could make out black moldy growth and interwoven hyphae. This post is open to read…
Mushroom spores
Mushroom spores are one-celled, reproductive units. Spores are different in size, shape, and color, so act as an important identification feature for a species of mushroom. I went for a nature walk and seen some wild mushrooms I prepared a slide and Foldscoped it. observed spores-these are one-celled, reproductive units -capable of germinating into mycelium, under…
Unidentified disease on Duranta
The Duranta hedge growing in my garden is lately showing diseased symptoms. Its leaves are curled at margins and puckered. Observing these regions under foldscope revealed hypertrophy. Cellular masses were seen in these hypertrophied regions. The cause of these symptoms is not clear. This post is open to read and review on The Winnower.
Stomatal arrangement in Bryophyllum
Bryophyllum pinnatum commonly known as Patharchatta. But few other common names are Miracle Leaf, air plant, cathedral bells, Goethe plant. It belongs to family Crassulaceae. It has many medicinal properties. I just plucked one leaf from the potted plant and removed a part of the peel from the leaf and foldscoped it.
Pollen of a fodder bean under foldscope
Dolichos lablab is an important fodder crop and highly nutritious as rich in proteins. The pollen grains were isolated from mature flowers and observed under foldscope. This post is open to read and review on The Winnower.
Wild plants of Chandigarh – Specimen 2 (Hyacinth bean )
Wild plants of Chandigarh – Specimen 2 (Hyacinth bean ) Botanical name – Dolichos lablab) Family – Fabaceae Collection site – Sec-47, Chandigarh Habitat – Wild Habit – Climber near dumping ground Leaf – Compound, trifoliate Inflorescence – Raceme Flower – Bisexual, zygomorphic, polypetalous, didynamus (1+9), papilionaceous corolla, creamish-white in …
Feathery style, stigma and pollination drop of Lablab
The pistil of Lablab – the flat bean flower was seen to have feathery style, and a capitate stigma under a foldscope. A pollination drop on stigma was a treat to watch under foldscope. This post is open to read and review on The Winnower.
Spoilage molds growing on walls
Do molds spoil only foods? No they also are a nuisance on walls. Moldy growth on a wall shows greenish cotton-like growth. On analyzing it under a foldscope, it was seen to be Aspergillus. Samriti Dhawan & Jasveen Dua (GGDSD College, Chandigarh) This post is open to read and review on The Winnower.
Fungus within an apple core
On cutting an apple, i saw a fuzzy white fungus in the central core region of the apple. I took a sample and fixed it on a slide to look under a foldscope. It was a weft of fungal hyphae. I tried to locate the spores, but in vain. The entire apple other-wise had no…
Presentation and demonstration of Foldscope in workshop @Imtech, Chandigarh
A 5 day long workshop was conducted at MTCC, CSIR-Imtech. Attending the workshop at Institute of Microbial Technology, Imtech, Chandigarh, was a wonderful experience for me, as not only I got a chance to learn about new techniques in the field of microbial systematics, but also got a chance to meet the academic and industrial…
Pollen-pistil interactions in Coix grass
The red coloured feathery stigma of Coix grass when observed under a foldscope exhibited a beautiful pollen-pistil interaction. How the pollen were entangled within the hair was quite clear. This post is open to read and review on The Winnower.
Feathery stigma of the grass – Coix lacryma-jobi under foldscope
Coix is a gras which bears bead-like structures , which are green when young and become black, grey to ivory coloured on maturing. The stigma of Coix is trifid, coloured and feathery. The stigma was detached and fixed on a slide to observe through a foldscope. It appeared like numerous multicellular trichomes emerging from the stigma….
Studying grasses under foldscope -1
Common name: Job’s tears (Hindi- Samkru) Botanical name: Coix lacryma-jobi Family: Poaceae(Grass family) Habitat: Foothills of Himalayas Importance- Used as a minor cereal and fodder. The berries are also strung as beads, used as rosaries, made into curtains, trays, bags and other accessories Job’s tears receives its name from the hard shiny tear-shaped structures that…
Wild plants of Chandigarh – Specimen 1
Collection site – Sec-32 ,Chandigarh Habitat – Wild Habit – Climber Inflorescence – Dichasial to polychasial cymes Flower – Actinomorphic, polypetalous, 5 stamens, exerted, protruding out of flower, style, simple and linear Fruit – Ellipsoidal Foldscope description – When the different parts were seen under a foldscope, trichomes were seen along the filaments and also…
Moldy growth on orange
White-green moldy growth was seen on a rotting orange. Observing a prepared slide of the sample under a foldscope revealed hyphae and conidia borne on conidiophore. Probably it is a Penicillium species. This post is open to read and review on The Winnower.
Foldscope kindles curiosity among farmers at Krishi Mela in Bengaluru
We demonstrated the Foldscope for hundreds of farmers at Krishi Mela held at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru. They were very curious and surprised to see minute pests under the Foldscope. We also demonstrated specimen separation, slide preparation, etc. The farmers were from several districts like Bengaluru Rural, Bengaluru Urban, Chamarajanagara, Mysuru, Chikkaballapura, Kolar,…
Pests on Chrysanthemum leaves
It is flowering season for Chrysanthemums in my garden. Some white powder was spotted on the leaves. Under foldscope some pests could be seen on the undersurface of Leaves. Are these Aphids or mites? How can I control their spread and have my Chrysanthemums blooming ? This post is open to read and…
Feathers from wetland #Sample-2
Sample -2 feather Light brown colored feather which was speckled in one half Size – 48 – 52 cms This post is open to read and review on The Winnower.
Feathery creatures at Wetlands #Sample -1
During the visit at Ropar wetlands, feathers of different kind of birds were spotted. The students collected these samples and later observed these through foldscope. Sample -1 was a small feather of grey colour Size – about 2.5 -3 cm The feather was fluffy and slightly wooly in appearance This post is open…
Japanese Garden Visit glimpses followed by Foldscope session
Some glimpses of Japanese Garden of Chandigarh where a Foldscope walk was organised and samples were collected for foldscopy. Students engaged in taking Foldscope instructions during a session @GGDSD, Chandigarh. This post is open to read and review on The Winnower.
Fern fiddleheads seen through foldscope
In the forest adjoining Ropar wetlands, we could see a lot many ferns. These had rhizomes – the underground stems from which the leaves are produced. The leaves of ferns are large sized and called fronds. These have circinate folding in young leaves. The new young foliage is tightly coiled in a spiral which gradually unfurls as…
Trichogramma embryophagum
It is an exotic species of Trichogramma. Apple codling moth is a targetted pest of T. embryophagum Thanks to Dr.Y.Lalitha
Unidentified microbes on surface of Chrysanthemum leaves
While looking at the cocoon-like thing on Chrysanthemum leaves, I also noticed dust. With the curiosity how dust would look under a foldscope, I took the sample on a slide using the cellotape. I saw some unidentified spindle shaped microscopic organisms along with the dust particles on the leaf surface. What are these? I am…
A calcareous cocoon-like structure on Chrysanthemum leaf
A calcareous cocoon-like structure was seen on my Chrysanthemum leaves. I plucked and tried to foldscope it using time-lapse. But the shell dissolved a few hours later and I could only observe the structure of the shell. Is it a shell of a nematode or an insect ? This post is open to read…