Two Subversive Applications of Different Microscopic Imaging Techniques in Lichen Identification

The days of heavy rain in the southern region are coming to an end.

Corynebacterium licheniformis

1.

Lichens that look more like plants

In the 1860s, as biologists worked to classify living things into distinct, distinct species, lichens were identified as a plant

2.

Three types of lichens: shell-like a, leaf-like b, branch-like c

In 1868, Swiss scientist Simon Schwendener proposed that lichens are symbionts of fungi and microalgae, challenging the taxonomy of "single species" and causing great controversy

Lichen slices under brightfield observation

The advent of modern optical microscopes put an end to this controversy

Candida is one of the common algae in lichens (photographed by Mingmei microscope MF52-N, 40X phase contrast)

Lichen is a symbiosis composed of fungi and algae or cyanobacteria.

3.

Candida under Mingmei Fluorescence Microscope MF52-N

For more than 100 years since Schwenderner, lichenists have believed that the fungi in lichens are single, and most lichen fungi come from the group of Ascomycetes (common molds belong to Ascomycetes), and lichens are also classified by fungal names.

Lichens under electron microscope, ruler = 10 μm

The researchers looked at it with light and scanning electron microscopes, but found nothing, because morphologically, they just saw hyphae and encapsulated algae

Dendritic lichens stained by fluorescence in situ hybridization (Image courtesy of Toby Spribille, et al.

So he used fluorescence in situ hybridization to stain the basidiomycetes and ascomycetes into green and blue, respectively, and added the algae chlorophyll to spontaneously fluoresce red.

Mingmei scientific research grade fluorescence microscope MF43-N is suitable for observation methods such as brightfield, fluorescence, phase contrast, etc.

 
Because lichen is very sensitive to air quality, it has the title of "air quality monitor".
Lichens of litmus, usnea and other varieties are also the source of traditional Chinese medicine and important pharmaceutical active ingredients.
At present, many domestic materials describe lichens at " Lichen = 1 species of fungi + 1 species of algae", and related research needs to be further studied by Chinese scholars
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