MICROBE WALK

    After the success of last year's microbe walk (see pictures here) we decided to make it a regular event.  This year we were all inspired by Doug's lecture, and the fact there seem to be lichens on every available surface in the Adirondacks, to focus on these fascinating symbiotic associations.  We walked up the pathway along the brook finding fungi, lots of lichens and some myxomycota.  We even found a friendly little eft that reminded us of Larry Aaronson's opening lecture.  We also found a couple of nice examples of plant root symbiosis:  both rhizobial nodules on a vetch plant and the neatly forked rootlets of ectomycorhizae on a pine seedling.  I also took some of the specimens back with me to put on the scope and take some pictures.  As usual, the best part of the walk was just getting out with a great group of people who were sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm for what we do.

Jeanne Poindexter and Doug Eveleigh examine some unidentified fungi.

Mold-like fungi growing on an animal pellet.

Close-up of the "mold".                                                                        Ruth Gyure and Jeanne Poindexter

A nice yellow myxomycete under the bark of a decaying log.

Crustose lichen with fruiting bodies.                                                     Foliose, "green shield" lichen on granite.

Foliose lichen on a pine twig.                                                                    British soldier lichen on a tree stump.

A mixture of lichens on granite.

Lichen with cup-shaped fruiting bodies growing on a stone wall.

Rock tripe lichens.

Craig Phelps                                                                                Rhizobial nodules on vetch roots.

Interior of nodule showing the presence of leghemoglobin.                Nodules on the dissecting scope.

Pine branch showing typical brown-rot breakdown.                                            Red eft stage of a red-spotted newt.

Doug Eveleigh and Craig Phelps using the digital microscope.                An array of diatoms from the slime layer on a submerged stick.

More "slime" diatoms.

Typical forked rootlets from an ectomycorhizal pine seedling.

    One demonstration of microbial life had to wait until after dark.  A foolish volunteer (me) got into the lake to stir up some methane from the mud, capture it in a funnel, and set it on fire.  This demonstration, the Volta experiment, was first done in Italy in 1776 to demonstrate the presence of  "flammable air".  Doug reminded us that it was repeated a few years later (perhaps independently) by George Washington.