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Use of ionic liquid in fungal taxonomic study of ultrastructure of basidiospore ornamentation

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Abstract

An ionic liquid (IL) is a kind of salt that stays in a molten state even at room temperature. Since ILs do not vaporize even under vacuum conditions and show high ionic conductivity, they can be used in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies. The ultrastructural features of basidiospore ornamentation are considered to be important in the delimitation of taxa for fungi. In the present study, we carried out SEM observations on basidiospores that were subjected to an IL treatment, and evaluated the usefulness of this method in comparison with a conventional preparation method in which dehydrating, drying and platinum (Pt) coating were used. Using the conventional method, a considerable number of basidiospores was lost from the gill tissues; however, using the IL method, the decrease in basidiospores was extremely small. No significant differences in ultrastructural morphology or basidiospore size were found between Pt-coated basidiospores and IL-treated ones. SEM images of Pt-coated basidiospores tended to have higher contrast than those of IL-treated ones. Charging effects were observed with Pt-coated basidiospores, especially at the tips of the ornaments, whereas no such effects occurred for the IL-treated ones. In addition, small crinkles were observed in the Pt-coated basidiospores, but not in the IL-treated ones. These results suggest that the IL method is useful for fungal taxonomic studies.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Mr. T. Takehara, Kanazawa Medical University, for his technical support. This research was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid (No.22-56481) from the Japan Society for Promotion of Science, and the Global Center of Excellence (COE) Program “Advanced Utilization of Fungus/Mushroom Resources for Sustainable Society in Harmony with Nature” from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Tottori University, 4-101 Koyama, Tottori, 680-8553, Japan

    Konomi Yanaga

  2. Fungus/Mushroom Resource and Research Center, Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, 4-101 Koyama, Tottori, 680-8553, Japan

    Nitaro Maekawa & Norihiro Shimomura

  3. Medical Research Institute, Kanazawa Medical University, 1-1 Daigaku, Uchinada-Machi, Kahoku-Gun, Ishikawa, 920-0293, Japan

    Yasuhito Ishigaki, Yuka Nakamura, Tsutomu Takegami & Naohisa Tomosugi

  4. Research Center for Biological Imaging, School of Medicine, Kitasato University, Kanagawa, 252-0374, Japan

    Shichiro Miyazawa

  5. Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan

    Susumu Kuwabata

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  1. Konomi Yanaga
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  2. Nitaro Maekawa
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  3. Norihiro Shimomura
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  4. Yasuhito Ishigaki
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  5. Yuka Nakamura
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  6. Tsutomu Takegami
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  7. Naohisa Tomosugi
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  8. Shichiro Miyazawa
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  9. Susumu Kuwabata
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Correspondence to Norihiro Shimomura.

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Yanaga, K., Maekawa, N., Shimomura, N. et al. Use of ionic liquid in fungal taxonomic study of ultrastructure of basidiospore ornamentation. Mycol Progress 11, 343–347 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-011-0794-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-011-0794-6

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