Species Description
Many descriptions of AMF species have been made without standardizing the nomenclature of the morphological characters useful for diagnosing the species. These morphological characters represent the structural diversity contained within a single cell, which are subject to natural variation or to variations imposed by biotic and abiotic factors. Thus, the spores recovered from the field usually do not have all the important characteristics to accurately diagnose the species and represent a challenge for diversity studies, if the researcher does not have much experience.
Similar to the procedure adopted at INVAM, the CICG adopted the use of Reference Cultures for each species in pure culture that is part of the collection. This culture can be directly related to the type species and thus represent an ex-type. On the other hand, it represents the description of a species from healthy spores, produced in pure culture, containing all diagnostic characters for the species.
The pages below are intended to assist researchers in identifying species using spores from the field or a pot culture, providing a standardized description of the morphological characters defined from a developmental study. The terminology adopted is presented in the spore development model by Morton et al. (1995), which considers that we can recognize in AMF spores: a) spore wall, b) germinal walls, both with distinct layers, and c) a germination structure.
The pages below add to the illustrations and descriptions of AMF species presented by Dr. Joseph Morton at INVAM (http://invam.wvu.edu) and by Dr. Janusz Blaszkowski at Univ. of Agriculture Czecin (http://www.zor.zut.edu.pl/Glomeromycota/).
Unlike the sites mentioned above, the CICG species description pages include descriptions of the spores only, a comparison with the original species description protologue, the taxonomic history of the species, and information on the biogeographic distribution of the species. Furthermore, to visualize intraspecific differences in spore color and size, photos of different geographic isolates of the species will be presented (when there is more than one isolate in the CICG). Whole spores are visualized on a Stemi 2000C dissecting microscope and captured with an Axiocam Erc5S camera. Whole spores are photographed with a light background and a dark background. Afterwards, the spores are mounted in PLVG and PVLG+Melzer, and visualized in an Axiostar Imager A2 Microscope and the images captured with an Axiocam C3 camera.
The images below may be used freely for personal use, for educational purposes, but must not be distributed or included in publications without the permission of the CICG curator.