Oscillatoria
Domain: Bacteria Phylum: Cyanobacteria Class: Cyanophyceae Order: Oscillatoriales Family: Oscillatoriaceae Genus: Oscillatoria Commonly found in: In water troughs made for drinking water to animals Reproduction: By fragmentation Oscillatoria are green, unbranched filamentous green cyanobacteria. They show oscillating movement in which filaments can slide back and forth in order to orient themselves…
Chlorococcum
Domain: Eukaryota Kingdom: Plantae Division: Chlorophyta Class: Chlorophyceae Order: Chlorococcales Family: Chlorococcaceae Genus: Chlorococcum Commonly found in: Freshwater Reproduction: With help of zoospores Chlorococcum are unicellular green algae, spherical in shape with single chloroplast. They have ability to form biofilms on wet surfaces. They move in circular manner. They help in photosynthesis and produce…
Photosynthetic Euglena
Domain: Eukaryota Phylum: Euglenophyta Class: Euglenophyceae Order: Euglenales Family: Euglenaceae Genus: Euglena Commonly found in: Fresh and marine water system, still water on which there is bloom Motility: Whipping motion by flagella Reproduction: Asexual reproduction (binary fission) or mitosis Euglena are eukaryotic organisms which have characteristics of both plant and animal cells, photo-heterotrophic organisms. They…
Interaction of Nematode with food substrate
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Nematoda Commonly known as: Roundworm Commonly found in: Marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments. Mobility: S-shaped motility Nematodes are transparent, size ranges from millimetre to centimeter that is easily visible to human eye, elongated cylindrical in shape without segmentation and outer layer is made of elastic cuticle which sheds four times during its…
Interactions of Water mite
Scientific name: Hydrachna species Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Chelicerata Class: Arachnida Order: AcarinaFamily: Hydrachenellae Commonly known as: Water mite Commonly found in: slow moving streams Mobility: Motile Reproduction: Sexual reproduction Water mite is a zooplankton, size ranges from 2-7mm, often bright in color to attract or warn predators or for mating purposes. Adult water mites…
Hiding of Rotifers
Phylum: Class: Eurotatoria Order: Bdelloidea Commonly known as: Wheel or whirling animals Commonly found in: Brackish or marine habitats, still water such as lake bottom, in soil, or on mosses. Mobility: Sessile (immobile) Reproduction: Sexually or parthenogeneic. Rotifers are planktonic, size ranges from 1mm-3mm and may have different body shapes such as sac-shaped, spherical, cylindrical, wide…
Exploring!
Date: 20th Jun 2018Place: Life Science Lab, St Xavier’s College (Autonomous), MumbaiDescription: My first few Foldscope images! Exploring was fun! I looked at a plant leaf that I picked on my way to college, some soil from the college garden and a run-away thread from my cotton dress. Observations:The leaf section was too thick and…
Magnification Comparison
Date: 19th Jun 2018Place: Life Science Lab, St Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Mumbai Description: The magnification of the assembled Foldscope (140X) was compared with that of the standard compound light microscope (10X and 40X lenses). Permanent slides were viewed. A slight aberration was observed at the edges of the field of view of the Foldscope possibly…
Garlic peel under foldscope.
We can easily see the cells of garlic. The peel was not so dry. I took a peel and observed it under a foldscope.
Workshop on Assembly and applications of Foldscope as research and educational tools at Daranggiri HS School, Daranggiri
A workshop was organised at Daranggiri Higher Secondary School, Daranggiri of Goalpara district on 13th September, 2019. A total of 85 students along with the teachers of the school were attended in the workshop. They learned how to assemble the various parts of the foldscope along with its various applications. Students observed different specimens on…
Vortex generated by cilia beating of Vorticella
Vorticella is a suspension-feeding ciliate and has drawn the attention of scientists since Anthony van Leeuwenhoek first described its unique motility. Biological motors of microorganisms can be mimicked in microsystems to reduce the overall size of devices. Cilia beating has been envisaged as a potential strategy for inducing fluid flow and mixing in microsystems. The…
Colpidium colpoda dining on bacteria
Colpidium colpoda are free-living ciliates commonly found in many freshwater environments including streams, rivers, lakes and ponds across the Globe. I collected some dried mosses from a tree and hydrated it by adding some water and observed this sample after one day of hydration. One can see the Colpidium feasting on bacterial cells.