Lab Summary:  11/14/12  Set up of mushroom kits from Fungi Perfecti

Shitake (Lenitnula edodes) and Pearl Oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus)

Humidity tent  for pearl oyster mushroom kit
continuous misting for 2-3 weeks

Addition of spring water for soaking (2-4hours)
for the shitake mushroom kit.  Create a humidity tent
and continue misting for 2-3 weeks

Oyster mushroom growth right out of the kit (Tasty!!! )

Shitake mushroom growth one week later

Recipe for oyster mushrooms
Fingerling Potatoes with Oyster Mushrooms
7 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 pounds small yellow fingerling potatoes, unpeeled, halved lengthwise
4 tablespoons minced shallots(green onions)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pound oyster mushrooms torn in 1 inch strips
1 tablespoon fresh parsley

Postion rack in oven in top third and another rack in the bottom third, preheat to 450 degrees.  Brush 2 baking dishes with olive oil.  Place potatoes in single layer in one dish, drizzle with 3 tablespoons olive oil, toss to coat, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place potatoes on top rack of oven and roast for 10 minutes.  Sprinkle shallots and garlic.  Transfer potatoes to bottom rack of oven and continue to roast until tender and golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes longer.  Meanwhile toss mushrooms with olive oil, spread single layer, sprinkle with salt and pepper, roast on top rack of oven until golden brown. stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes.  Combine mushrooms and potatoes, add parsley mix and serve.   

Rack Beer

Specific gravity was 1.014 at the 1st rack
The specific gravity prior to fermentation was 1.052
Therefore, after fermentation the ABW was 3.6%
and 4.59% ABV (excellent results!!)

Discussed fungal meningitis outbreak.  "Fungal meningitis pathogen discovers new appetite for human brains"  Jennifer Frazer, Scientific American 13 November 2012

Lab Summary 11/7/12 Trip to Monterrey Mushroom Farm

Departed from College Station,TX to Madisonville, TX at 8:45am in three vehicles.  The Ebbole Team was bringing up the rear.  Scientific discussion ensued as we traveled eastward about the mating type genes and proteins pertaining to papers being reviewed in Ebbole's fungal genetics class.

As we arrived to the final destination, we were greeted by the plant manager.  He had been working for Monterrey Mushroom for 36 years!!

He then gave us in depth illustration of the process in mushroom production.
1. Chicken manure, urea, and water are added to the straw.  (11days)
2. Continue compost for 9 days until dark brown in color,  free from an ammonia smell, then pasteurized.
3. Sterile millet seeds are coated with mushroom mycelium and spread over the top of the pasteurized compost.  Then a layer of peat moss is spread over the top of the spawn. 
4. Spawn rooms for 13 days.  Temperature, humidity and CO2  levels are critical for the growth of spawn.
5. Set backs 11 days
6. Production rooms 21 days
7. Post crop room 12 hours
  

Sample of the different straw textures as the raw straw on the left
begins to compost and render ready for inoculation of the mushroom  mycelium.

Composting straw

Raw straw bales

Conveyer moving
composted straw to pasteurizer

Tray with spawn
 and peat moss layer

Mushrooms ready for harvest  

Initial growth of
 spawn into mushrooms

Mushrooms ready to be delivered to retail stores

Lab Summary 10/17/12

Neurospora crassa cross observations.  Perithicia were maturing but not yet ready (ascospores had not yet "shot" from the perithicia) to pick individual ascospores.

Neurospora crassa conidia

Crosses of Neurospora crassa 
resulting in perithiucia formation
on minimal Vogel's media

Squash mount of Neurospora crassa 
perithicium showing asci and ascospores

Field collected specimens were available for observation.  We were challenged to classify them as either Ascomycetes or Basidiomycetes.

Basidiomycete

Basidiomycete

Basidiomycete

Basidiomycete

Ascomycete

Ascomycete

Basidiomycete

Basidiomycete

Basidiomycete

Lab Practical 10/10/12

My comments on the lab practical.
I believe the practical was very fair.  There were 20 questions with 16 microscopes set up with different spore types to be identified to genus.  Perhaps there could have been bonus points for providing the species of the fungi observed.

Unknown fungal project :    "What is wrong with my plant?"

Unknown #2 (A SNEAK PEEK!!!) To be continued
Source: Hibiscus plant from nursery retailer submitted to TPDDL 

 

Hibiscus plant with flower blight submitted to TPDDL

Dissecting microscopic view of necrotic flower petals.

Sterile needle transfer of conidia to 1/2 strength PDA grown at 26C

 

Riddel mount set up

Microscopic view of the Riddel mount of Botrytis sp.

Lab Summary 10/3/12

1.  The following cultures were available for microscopic examination to aid in unknown identifications and the various different spore types, condiogenous cells, and hyphae.

Alternaria brassicicola, Aspergillus niger, Botrytis cinera, Colletotrichum coccodes, Curvularia sp., Epicoccum sp., Fusarium graminearum, Monilinia fructicola, Nigrospora sp., Pestilotia sp., Rhizoctonia solani, Thielaviopsis brasicola, and Trichoderma viride. 

Fusarium graminearum  macroconidia and microconidia

Rhizoctonia solani hypae with septation

 

 

 

 

 

Pigmented Pestilotia sp spores

Thielaviopsis brasicola in pansy roots (TPDDL sample) with aleuriospores 

 

 

 Alternaria brassicicola pigmented spores with cross and longitudinal septa

Neurospora crassa cross resulting
in the formation of Perithecia

2.  Neurospora crassa crosses (SmRP10 x SmRP 11, SmRP10 x CP-1 GFP, SmPR10 x NCACo21-1) were successful.  Perithicia were present however, the ostioles had not yet formed.  It was observed in some of the agar plates trichogynes (specialized hypae) of N. crassa were seeking the opposite mating type across the plate.

















 3.  The week before (9/26/12) 2 different corn varieties (Silver Queen and OPR2-1) were inoculated with the haploid strain of Utilago maydis Sg200.  A week later we observed tumor formation and proceeded to prepare the tissue for fungal observation.  Proceedure as follows:  Destain plant tissue with 2:1 acetic acid:ethanol for 24 hours, stain with trifan blue, and then briefly destain.

Detatining (24hr) of the corn leaf sections inoculated with Ustilago maydis
showing symptom expression (tumors)

4.  A week (inoculated on 9/26/12) after the dimorphic experiment was set up, all but one of the Mucor rouxii cups were contaminated with N. crassa and were slightly dried out.  I took a cross sections through the agar and did observe the two different stages via compound microscopy, the yeast stage and the filamentous stage (hyphae).

Lab Summary for 9/26/12

I was not present for this lab due to job commitment  but was updated as to what experiments were preformed.

1.   Neurospora crassa crosses were set up.
2.   Corn plants were needle inoculated with Utilago madys 
3.  A dimorphic gradient of Mucor sp. was set up.

Updates for the following experiments will be posted on the next lab summary 10/3/12