Culham Research Group

Sundews in Britain

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Alastair Culham

Left to right: Drosera anglica, D. x obovata and D. rotundifolia leaves (Photo by Dr M.)

Some years ago I wrote an account for the BSBI Plant Crib on how to distinguish the three Drosera species that occur naturally in the UK, and around most of the northern hemisphere. There still remains confusion among them and mis-reporting of the species. Drosera is very easy to recognise as a genus but many of the species can be more challenging to distinguish when not in flower. The confusion is made worse by mis-labelled images on the web, some from commercial photo galleries. A blog by Ryanne Matthias on Catalogue of Life discusses this issue in some detail.

Posted in Catalogue of Life, Herbarium RNG, i4Life | Leave a comment

Herbarium RNG Questionnaire

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Tom Marks

Tom (on the left) studying pollination biology of the invasive Carpobrotus in southern Spain

I am a third year undergraduate student at the University of Reading, reading for a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences. My third year project aims to evaluate the current Herbarium RNG website, analyse other Herbaria websites, and subsequently redesign the Herbarium RNG website, using the Content Management System (CMS) used by the University.

As a part of this redesign process, it is both useful and important to have a grasp of the current opinions and attitudes towards the website that I shall be redesigning, and in an attempt to gather these opinions, I have designed a questionnaire for users of the current Herbarium RNG website to complete.

However, I would ask that only those who have used the current Herbarium RNG website carry out the survey.

This questionnaire should take no more than ten minutes to complete, and can be found at http://www.survey.bris.ac.uk/reading/herbariumwebsite.

Additional Information for Participants is available to download.

I would be most grateful if you could take the time to complete this survey, as it will greatly enhance the redesign process of the new website, and hopefully make the new site more user friendly.

I thank you in advance for assisting me with my final year project.

Posted in Herbarium RNG | Tagged Reading University Herbarium, RNG | Leave a comment

Lichens of the Pacific Northwest US Coast

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Immy

[T-B] Moss-coated trees, lichen and moss on tree trunks, and me with my hand lens, in Fern Canyon, Humbolt Redwoods, Northern California

At the end of 2013 I had the pleasure of taking The Symbiosis Project on tour around the northwest Pacific coast of the USA. This region hosts a prolific array of lichen, due to the cool damp weather of west Washington state, Oregon, and northern California. This climate creates a temperate rainforest ecoregion, home to not only an astonishing variety of lichen but also mosses, liverworts, ferns and fungi, in addition to its famous coastal redwood forests. I encountered many species of lichen I wouldn’t usually see here in Reading, the most visually bizarre of which was definitely Icmadophila ericetorum or ‘bubblegum lichen’ as it’s sometimes known! Peltigera polydactyla came a close second (central photo below). We also found a number of beautiful lichens

common to our Atlantic woodlands, including ‘coral lichens’ from the genus Sphaerophorus. (Useful guides to such Atlantic lichens can be found here and here). Continue reading →

Posted in Herbarium RNG, Public Engagement with Science | Tagged Art, Icmadophila ericetorum, Lichen, Peltigera polydactyla, Reading University Herbarium, Sphaerophorus, Symbiosis, The Symbiosis Project | 1 Comment

Where it all began…

Posted on January 29, 2014 by Oliver Ellingham

With approximately 800 different species of powdery mildew present on earth today, grouped into 13 genera (according to Braun & Takamatsu, 2000) of 5 tribes, combinations of the aforementioned features, as well as many less superficially obvious, are numerous. While many species may have similar characteristics it is often their geographical location and, more importantly, their host which finalise the identity of a fungal pathogen. Continue reading →

Posted in PhD research, Public Engagement with Science, RHS research | Tagged Ascomycota, Erysiphales, Evolution, Forma specialis, Fungal identification, Fungi, morphology, Oli Ellingham, Oliver Ellingham, Pathology, Plant Pathology, Powdery Mildew, RHS, Royal Horticultural Society | Leave a comment

Sexual Fungi

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Oliver Ellingham

Like any organism reproduction is key to the life of the powdery mildews.

Their short generation time and mixture of asexual (self-replication) and sexual life cycles have evolved to produce the veracious organisms which blight many of our agricultural and ornamental plants.

While asexual reproduction (via conidiogenesis) can occur multiple times per year, aiding proliferation throughout a summer, it is often sexual reproduction (occurring just once annually) which maintains viability and allows this fungus to survive the winter.

Continue reading →

Posted in PhD research, Public Engagement with Science, RHS research | Tagged Ascomycota, Erysiphales, Fungal identification, Fungi, morphology, Oli Ellingham, Oliver Ellingham, Pathology, Phylogeny, Plant Pathology, Powdery Mildew, Reproduction, RHS, Royal Horticultural Society, taxonomy | 1 Comment

Appendage Morphology

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Oliver Ellingham

Amongst the most important visual, superficial features of the powdery mildew are their appendages. These limb-like features arising from the surface of the, sexual spore containing, chasmothecia are important for latching onto the stems and leaves of their hosts. They vary greatly and can help us to distinguish between tribes and genera.

The ectoparasitic, single conidia producing tribe Erysipheae are a good indication of the diversity of forms within a single tribe: appendages are distinct at their tips (or apices) and can be grouped as uncinate-circinate, dichotomously branched or mycelioid (fig. 1).

Figure 1: Appendages of powdery mildew sexual spores (chasmothecia). The 'uncinate-circinate' appendages (left) are said to be the most basal form from which dichotomously branched appendages (middle) have evolved. The most simple, 'mycelioid' appendages (right), then evolved at least twice from the branched type. Such a series of adaptations shows a simple devolution of complexity in the forms.

Figure 1: Appendages of powdery mildew fruiting bodies (chasmothecia). The ‘uncinate-circinate’ appendages (left) are said to be the most basal form from which dichotomously branched appendages (middle) have evolved. The most simple, ‘mycelioid’ appendages (right), then evolved at least twice from the branched type. Such a series of adaptations shows a simple devolution of complexity in the forms. (From Takamatsu, 2013)

Continue reading →

Posted in PhD research, Public Engagement with Science, RHS research | Tagged Appendages, Ascomycota, Erysiphales, Fungal identification, Fungi, morphology, Oliver Ellingham, Pathology, Phylogeny, Plant Pathology, Powdery Mildew, RHS, Royal Horticultural Society, taxonomy | 3 Comments

How many spores?

Posted on January 16, 2014 by Oliver Ellingham

After establishing itself on a host a powdery mildew can begin to reproduce. Asexual conidia (spores) are produced as 3-D protrusions, on structures called conidiophores, from the predominantly 2-D mycelial network on the surface of a host.

In this aspect of morphology/biology powdery mildews are separated into two distinct groups: those producing a single conidia per conidiophore per day (pseudoidium-type); and those producing many (euoidium-type) (fig. 1).

Figure 1: Conidiogenesis types. Pseudoidium-types, comprised of the tribes Erysipheae and Phyllactineae, produce false chains with just a single conidium at its apex which is released daily. Euoidium-types, comprised of the remaining three tribes (Blumerieae, Cystotheceae and Golovinomyceteae), produce many conidia per day in true chains. (From Takamatsu, 2013)

Continue reading →

Posted in PhD research, Public Engagement with Science, RHS research | Tagged Ascomycota, Conidiogenesis, Erysiphales, Fungal identification, Fungi, morphology, Oliver Ellingham, Pathology, Phylogeny, Plant Pathology, RHS, Royal Horticultural Society, taxonomy | 3 Comments

Culham Research Group

Sundews in Britain

Herbarium RNG Questionnaire

Lichens of the Pacific Northwest US Coast

Where it all began…

Sexual Fungi

Appendage Morphology

How many spores?

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