Title

Paddling Through a Not so Dry Creek for an Updated Species List of Trichomycetes at This Site Near Boise

Document Type

Student Presentation

Presentation Date

April 2016

Faculty Sponsor

Merlin White

Abstract

Trichomycetes is a former class of Fungi now recognized as an ecological group of gut dwelling fungi and protists associated with various non-predaceous Arthropods. Typically hidden away in digestive tracts, they have been found around the globe, including from Idaho. With sampling from Spring of 2016 we add to data from collections of aquatic insects for a longer term study of “gut fungi” from Dry Creek, near Boise. Field sampling employs a kick sampling technique, with hosts maintained alive in an aquarium with an air bubbler at a controlled temperature. Hosts are dissected under a stereoscope with fine tipped tweezers. The hindgut and its contents are wet mounted on glass microscope slides before staining with lactophenol cotton blue (LCB). Images are taken and used to gather morphometric data including the size and shape of the thalli, spores, and holdfast. All of these are taxonomically informative features used to identify species. Our immediate goal is to collate data from several years of collecting at the site for a formal species list. This will not only add to our knowledge of these microorganisms locally but also allow for comparison beyond this system for a more improved global perspective of their biodiversity.

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