common milkweed plant flagellate encountered at last!

[charlie g]

Hi all, I finally sampled a meadow milkweed latex wetmount slide...from two day old collected milkweed. It was late October'21when doggie and I went out to this clutch of milkweed ( Asclepias syriaca) for the plant collection. I Used a freshly opened bottle of spring water( they list the springs source of this water,,we can hope it's spring water) to plop the plant snipping into immediately at site where I collected the cutting. I left this cutting at the bench, sliced open the stem two days latter, and with a pipet flushed a dilute (spring water diluted) latex fluid sample on a slide, added the coverslip.

On three sample slides of three different milk weed stems, I encountered one or two active flagellates. I finally setup my 100X oil objective on a fourth latex sample...but this wetmount slide had no flagellates evident.

The 1925 literature ( Frances O. Holmes, 11/25 Biological Bulletin) notes that unlike lettuce plants..where the latex ducts all merge together as one continuous grid of latex ducts, in milkweed plants the latex ducts remain independent of each others tubular ducts. Thus in one milkweed plant you may have dense population of plant flagellates in one area of the plant..and no flagellates, or sparse population of flagellates in the rest of a single plant.

These plant flagellates are site introduced on milkweed plants by the feeding bites of a red and black hemipterous insect, Oncopeltus fasciatus. Where the bug feeds is where plant flagellates are to be found on a collected plant cutting.


please enjoy this sample collection and hunt for plant flagellates. charlie g, fingerlakes/US











asclepias sy

[charlie g]

As I intended to encounter live active flagellates..I did not use methylcellulose viscosity tool in my wetmount slides. Now that I observe how active these flagellates are..in future I will use methylcellulose viscosity tool...to slow things down for use of 100X oil-objective.

George N. Agrious in 2005 ( Plant Pathology, 5th edition) notes the genus termed: Phytomonas, is not the only species of plant flagellates to be encountered., it is mentioned that the fruits: tomatoes host plant flagellates, hmmm next growth season both organic and non-organic grown local tomatoes survey for plant flagellates!?

[charlie g]

Our first frost of this year came 11/4/21, all the milkweed plants are freeze wilted/frost burnt. Next year doggie and I will survey for milkweed plant flagellates in mid summer. If we encounter dense populations of these flagellates..we will try latex smears and Wright stain of the slides as (1925) Dr. Holmes suggests.

We always keep patches of milkweed plants unmowed for Monarch butterflies, but sadly for past three to four years we only have one or two Monarchs gracing our meadow the entire growth season.

[RobBerdan]

I didn't know euglenids nice images.
RB

[charlie g]

Thanks for looking. Rob. Actually these flagellates are so easy to sample from milk weed plant cuttings..just slurp up the milk weed latex and dilute with bottled spring water ( water which has no protozoans in it).

I encourage all microscopists with milk weed plants in their area...to look for plant flagellates.

As per my 2005 literature source..it will be even easier to look for plant flagellates in tomatoes...please try these two microscopy quests forum folk....milk weed flagellates, and tomatoe flagellates.

I had/ always have so much going on in spring/summer of our growth season..that I never sat the seat of my pants, to the seat of the chair at my bench...to do this simple, yet wonderful microscopy...until our late season collection quest.

Please give these sample quests a try , folks. charlie g. (first meager snowfall this 11/14/21

[Bruce Taylor]

That's really interesting, Charlie. It never occurred to me to go looking for trypanosomatids!

[smollerthings]

Mind blown!!!

So these are parasites basically?

[charlie g]

Fear not , smollerthings, these trypanosomatids of genus: Phytomonas...at least in the milkweeds they do the host plant no harm, my understanding is these flagellates also do no harm to their insect host/vector.

I guess between ciliates inhabiting spittle-bugs bubble nests, flagellates inhabiting milkweed latex, and flagellates inhabiting tomatoes...we can do some very simple sample collection and microscopy next spring/summer '22.

Thanks for looking, Bruce and smollerthings, charlie g

[Javier]

Very cool, Charlie. Thanks for sharing!