Growing and Observing Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

This site aims to make growing and observing arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi with a superabsorbent polymer accessible to everyone.

Here you will find tools and protocols that are easy to access and inexpensive, for research or outreach activities ranging from the most basic culture methods to producing high-definition microscopy videos. The site’s content is dynamic and evolving, with new material added on a regular basis.

Culture Techniques

Everything about growing fungi in petri dishes, without sterility, in symbiosis with ordinary plants

• General Principles
• The Polymer: Characteristics and Preparation
• How to obtain superabsorbent polymer
• Low-Cost Micro-Tools
• Making and assembling Petri Dishes
• Nutrient Solutions
• Day-to-Day Culture and Maintenance
• Inoculation Methods
• Host Plants
• Favorite Scientific References
• A Few Useful Tips

Observation Tools and Methods

Tools and methods for preparation and observation:

• Microscope and Lenses
• Lighting Methods
• Cameras
• Imaging and Photography Software
• Observation Methods
• Staining Techniques
• Photographing Arbuscules
• Filming Cytoplasmic Streaming in Hyphae
• My Finest Photos/Videos
• Student Work

Culture Notes

Notes and observations on the particularities of several species, with accompanying photos and videos

• Diversispora varaderana
• Funneliformis mosseae
• Funneliformis geosporus
• Gigaspora rosea
• Rhizophagus irregularis
• Sclerocystis sp.
• Miscellaneous Experiments
• Ongoing Experiments
• Bidirectional Streaming