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Amoeba parasitized by the fungus Amoebophilus
Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2023 3:27 pm
by tlansing
A couple of years ago, I saw for the first time an amoeba parasitized by the fungus
Amoebophilus. Just recently, I made a collection in which there were many amoebae parasitized by this fungus. A photo of one amoeba is shown below.
- amoeba_fungus-1.jpg (53.63 KiB) Viewed 1300 times
You can see the spores of the fungus trialing out behind the amoeba. This situation reminded me of the proverbial saying, "Big fleas have little fleas, upon their backs to bite 'em, and little fleas have lesser fleas and so
ad infinitum."
Here is a short video of the amoeba and its parasite in action.
Tim
Re: Amoeba parasitized by the fungus Amoebophilus
Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2023 11:02 pm
by DonSchaeffer
Incredible photos!
Re: Amoeba parasitized by the fungus Amoebophilus
Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2023 1:43 am
by apochronaut
That is fantastic. What comes to mind is why can the Amoeba not engulf it?
Re: Amoeba parasitized by the fungus Amoebophilus
Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2023 6:39 am
by MichaelG.
Extraordinary video … but presumably a fairly ordinary event
It’s humbling to think how little of ‘what goes on’ must escape the attention of mankind.
Thanks
MichaelG.
Re: Amoeba parasitized by the fungus Amoebophilus
Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2023 9:37 am
by tlansing
To all: thanks for the nice comments.
@MichaelG: parasitism by this fungus on amoebae is pretty rare; nature is full of wonders!
A couple of notes:
-the oval objects trailing behind the amoeba are actually conidia which contain spores
-the question of why the conidia aren't just eaten by the amoeba is an interesting one. According to GL Barron (Canadian Journal of Botany, Volume 61, Number 12, December 1983), when a conidia comes into contact with an amoeba, the "conidium attaches by one end to the pellicle of the host, penetrates with a slender germ tube, and produces a lobed haustorium to anchor the thallus and absorb nutrient."
Re: Amoeba parasitized by the fungus Amoebophilus
Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2023 11:42 am
by apochronaut
tlansing wrote: ↑Wed Mar 15, 2023 9:37 am
To all: thanks for the nice comments.
@MichaelG: parasitism by this fungus on amoebae is pretty rare; nature is full of wonders!
A couple of notes:
-the oval objects trailing behind the amoeba are actually conidia which contain spores
-the question of why the conidia aren't just eaten by the amoeba is an interesting one. According to GL Barron (Canadian Journal of Botany, Volume 61, Number 12, December 1983), when a conidia comes into contact with an amoeba, the "conidium attaches by one end to the pellicle of the host, penetrates with a slender germ tube, and produces a lobed haustorium to anchor the thallus and absorb nutrient."
So the conidia just detach when mature and float around like bags of oats until they bump into someone's pellicle? That's a pretty powerfull fungus. Not only does it have the amoeba, it has everyone who is watching it.
Under the microscope is a neverending series of events, ever changing, like clouds drifting across the sky. Mostly, the events are predictable and understandable but every now and then, those events become almost forcibly riveting, drawing one deeper and deeper right through the eyepiece and down that tube.
Re: Amoeba parasitized by the fungus Amoebophilus
Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2023 6:56 am
by Wes
Great finding and documentation, Tim! I have never seen Amoebophilus in real life.
tlansing wrote: ↑Tue Mar 14, 2023 3:27 pm
Just recently, I made a collection in which there were many amoebae parasitized by this fungus.
Is there anything special you did or just happened to established an infected culture by chance?
Re: Amoeba parasitized by the fungus Amoebophilus
Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2023 10:34 am
by tlansing
Hi Wes, Thanks for the comment!
These amoebae were found in a small temporary pool along a wooded path near where I live. I was attracted to it because of algae that I could see growing in it. I suspected there would be many green flagellates and Synura present. One hint that suggests this might be a good place to find infected amoebae comes from the first line of the abstract of the paper I cited in which Barron notes that the amoebae were recovered from rotten wood. There is probably a lot of rotted material near this small pool.
Tim
Re: Amoeba parasitized by the fungus Amoebophilus
Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2023 4:49 pm
by einman
Amazing. Thanks for sharing.