Please ID: sphere with spikes

[gekko]

It is about 30 µm in diameter, spherical, with spikes all over its surface. Many thanks for any suggestions. [40x objective, oblique illumination].

Edit: It just occurred to me that this could well be a grain of pollen?

[KurtM]

Grain of pollen is the first thing that occurred to me. Where's John when you need him?

[gekko]

Grain of pollen is the first thing that occurred to me. Where's John when you need him?

Many thanks, Kurt. Yes, we do need John .

[mrsonchus]

Very nice - certainly looks like a pollen-grain to me, also the right size.
If I had to guess I'd probably say Compositae, perhaps a Daisy - although Compositae doesn't narrow it down that much, but the size is dead mid-range too. A lucky find of a spiny gem!

[gekko]

Many thanks, John.

[zzffnn]

Very nice! No idea what it is though.

[rnabholz]

Beautiful image Gekko.

The spikes are really well captured. Thanks for showing it.

Rod

[gekko]

zzffnn and Rod, thank you very much for your comments.

[billbillt]

Hi Gekko,
WOW!.. That is very good!..

BillT

[exmarine]

Hi Guy's,
Pollen grain???? Not so sure as none of the exine is showing and the points in a circular position and not fully covering the cell.

I would look into the species Staurastrum it might be a specimen of the type. I think its connected to the desmid dominated sample of plankton. There are over 1,000 species. This is lateral thinking.
Just had another thought (this is getting out of hand) could it be a Protozoa???

See ex-marines can think outside the box but it's not very often. so it's back to the drawing board.

All the best.

[mrsonchus]

It'll be interesting to see if we are able to nail it, it could well be something other than pollen.
I think an exine is definitely clear though, if that's what it is, as the points themselves are part of it - see here re the 'Thale-Cress' - the 'Botanical Guinea Pig' as it's often called..
http://www.plantcell.org/content/24/11/4311.short

I also think I see a 3D arrangement of those spikes, limited by the depth of focus of course, and further when out of focus, by their lack of colour - which may in itself count against this being pollen? Hard to tell but very interesting.

Definitely unable to be certain that's for sure!

hmm, is it correct to say that Staurastrum have a strong bilateral constriction (isthmus)? I can't see evidence of this either - the plot thickens in this adventure!

[JimT]

the plot thickens in this adventure!

The games afoot

BTW, nice image Gekko.

[gekko]

Many thanks to all for your comments.
exmarine, thank you for your comments. The 2-dimensional image cannot show this, but the object is spherical and the "spikes" cover the whole surface of the sphere. I could see that clearly when looking through the eyepieces even as I could not show it in the 2D image. I am not sure how the wall of a pollen grain would appear under the microscope, but, having focused all through its depth, I don't think this is Staurastrum ( https://vimeo.com/124983571 ). I know it is difficult to tell from a 2D image, but having examined it by focusing through it, I'll have to agree with Kurt and John. Thanks again.

[mrsonchus]

It's a lovely image for certain, the shades of green are truly beautiful! Your focus is so sharp also - the spines look very sharp indeed. It's great when something unexpected pops up in a sample - this one will remain a mystery but great fun pondering my friend. Thanks for the interesting post.

[apochronaut]

sunflower pollen.
https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/33223/view

[mrsonchus]

sunflower pollen.
https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/33223/view

Hello Apo' - yes it looks a prime candidate old chap.

[gekko]

sunflower pollen.
https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/33223/view

Many thanks, apochronaut: I think that's it! That is exactly what it looked like under the microscope.

[KurtM]

I thought of pollen from the cotton crop, but gekko's may be a bit small ... plus, it's been a while since I looked at cotton pollen...

http://whyfiles.org/2011/cotton-pollination/

Check it out -- Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope?! COOL, I want one!!

[gekko]

I thought of pollen from the cotton crop, but gekko's may be a bit small ... plus, it's been a while since I looked at cotton pollen...

http://whyfiles.org/2011/cotton-pollination/

Check it out -- Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope?! COOL, I want one!!

Yes, very cool (the link that apochronaut gave was also to an SEM image). It certainly looks like a cotton pollen also, although I think sunflower is more likely (our neighbors have sunflowers in their yard). Either way, it is a pollen. Thank you.

[KurtM]

Well you're on to something with that line of reasoning for sure: If you think it's pollen and wonder what from, take a good look around where the sample was drawn from. If you're surrounded by sunflowers, and not cotton fields, then the answer's a no-brainer, as they say.

Now I know gekko had no need for me to come along and elucidate the situation, but I say it for the benefit of beginners and others who never really gave pollen much thought. Pollen is such a wonderfully great subject of study for anyone with a microscope that I just had to say it.

[Rylander]

It could also be a zygospore, there are many algae having spiky zygospore. Just a thought.

Rylander

[mrsonchus]

It could also be a zygospore, there are many algae having spiky zygospore. Just a thought.

Rylander

It also fits the image - interesting and definitely possible - I found an interesting web-site looking for information re algal zygospores - the 'diploid version' (having a full set of chromosomes after fertilization) of a spore.

Here's a link to a very interesting source of information.. http://www.peoi.org/Courses/Coursesen/bot/bot15.html

Thanks for the lead Rylander.

[gekko]

Many thanks, Rylander: a zygospore certainly looks very possible, for example:
http://www.mushroomthejournal.com/great ... os581.html (scroll down to the bottom of the page)
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=ht ... mrc&uact=8

I wonder if the size would help determine which it might be.
Thanks again .