Rot in an Onion root (Nematodes, and an unidentified organism)

Jun 29, 2019 • 10:41 AM UTC

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Microorganisms

MananSuri

My name is Manan. I am a student from New Delhi, India. I like to explore the world around me, and foldscope acts like a gateway for me to delve into the microcosmos. Always open to learning new things, meeting new people and and having new memories.

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An onion at my home started showing roots, so I decided to try and grow a plant from it. I partially immersed the growing root tips in water before transplanting it to a garden pot.
But within a week or two, I noticed my plant wasn’t growing at all; rather there was rapid senescence and drying of the leaves. So I decided to investigate it.

the rotting onion plant
I started by plucking a portion out, and found that it had a terrible rotting smell. Further on physical examination, the base of the stem oozed a white viscous fluid (as such the tissue became kind of mushy) and I made a slide of that liquid.

The base of the stem, from where the oozy fluid emerged. I found a number of worm like creatures gliding in my foldscope, which I now suspect are nematodes. I also found an creature roaming on the slidw which I couldnt identify (would love if someone helps me out.)

Initially you can see a number of worm like microorganisms; then an unidentified organism near the end This was the first time I could see entire organisms in motion under my foldscope and that was quite an exciting moments, because previously none of my slide showed a moving and prominent sample.

I hypothesize this to be a nematode