Fungal spores and outdoors microscopy

Apr 30, 2017 • 11:22 AM UTC

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140x Magnification

Microorganisms

Manu Prakash

I am a faculty at Stanford and run the Prakash Lab at Department of Bioengineering at Stanford University. Foldscope community is at the heart of our Frugal Science movement - and I can not tell you how proud I am of this community and grassroots movement. Find our work here: http://prakashlab.stanford.edu

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I have a little tin can sitting outside in my backyard. Clearly I was not paying attention and with the rains, it got filled up with water. A week or so later; I saw an incredible “yellow” growth inside. This was a fun opportunity for me to look what’s actually growing. I am also using this as an example to share how to use outdoor light as a means for imaging with a foldscope; and how the sunlight outdoors affects your imaging.

Once I had imaged it, I took the sample inside and used a table lamp as a controlled light source. See the difference in resolution and also tricks associated with using a table lamp.

Can some of the “fungal experts” in the community confirm what these “spore like” structures are. They definitely have stalks that attach them to the main hyphae. Please leave comments below.
cheers
manu