Collaborative project anyone? - The Slime Mould Collective2024-03-29T11:23:04Zhttp://slimoco.ning.com/forum/topics/collaborative-project-anyone?commentId=3917201%3AComment%3A47025&xg_source=activity&feed=yes&xn_auth=noI've seen references to polyc…tag:slimoco.ning.com,2019-11-11:3917201:Comment:470982019-11-11T06:35:12.585Zianhttp://slimoco.ning.com/profile/ian
<p>I've seen references to polycephalum in the wild in the uk but given that there impossible to id with iud spores I think any id has viewed with a caveat </p>
<p>I've seen references to polycephalum in the wild in the uk but given that there impossible to id with iud spores I think any id has viewed with a caveat </p> I'm told you can still find t…tag:slimoco.ning.com,2019-11-04:3917201:Comment:470252019-11-04T20:05:28.095ZEvan Brownhttp://slimoco.ning.com/profile/EvanBrown
<p>I'm told you can still find them in the wild, but generally yes. Ian got me started and he's been an absolute wealth of information.</p>
<p>I'm told you can still find them in the wild, but generally yes. Ian got me started and he's been an absolute wealth of information.</p> Oh. I've just noticed on anot…tag:slimoco.ning.com,2019-11-04:3917201:Comment:468652019-11-04T19:54:34.774ZEleanor Relfhttp://slimoco.ning.com/profile/EleanorRelf
<p>Oh. I've just noticed on another post - John Holden says Physarum polycephalum isn't native in the wild in the UK. So I can't just go and find one to be useful to this project. I'd have to obtain one from someone (Ian ;) ) ... Is that correct?</p>
<p>Oh. I've just noticed on another post - John Holden says Physarum polycephalum isn't native in the wild in the UK. So I can't just go and find one to be useful to this project. I'd have to obtain one from someone (Ian ;) ) ... Is that correct?</p> But if you introduce two stra…tag:slimoco.ning.com,2019-11-04:3917201:Comment:469132019-11-04T14:15:00.569ZEleanor Relfhttp://slimoco.ning.com/profile/EleanorRelf
<p><span>But if you introduce two strains of P. polycephalum plasmodia, will they fuse? And then what would happen to the expression of your colour genes? If this isn't known, then it's best to keep them separate, no? Especially as you could get the same 'look' via different gene combinations... Hence the need for some procedures to prevent cross-contamination of strains. Having seen how eager they are to explore (I'm guessing even more eager at the amoeboid stage) I can't see a way to do…</span></p>
<p><span>But if you introduce two strains of P. polycephalum plasmodia, will they fuse? And then what would happen to the expression of your colour genes? If this isn't known, then it's best to keep them separate, no? Especially as you could get the same 'look' via different gene combinations... Hence the need for some procedures to prevent cross-contamination of strains. Having seen how eager they are to explore (I'm guessing even more eager at the amoeboid stage) I can't see a way to do that without sterile lab conditions. Do they revert to amoebae from plasmodia or do they always complete the cycle through sporangia etc?</span></p> Hi
I'm hoping to stimulate so…tag:slimoco.ning.com,2019-11-04:3917201:Comment:469082019-11-04T11:05:47.822Zianhttp://slimoco.ning.com/profile/ian
<p>Hi</p>
<p>I'm hoping to stimulate some innovation and interest in treating these like any other species we bring into cultivation. I'd like to curate and store cultures, when fun things start cropping up I'd have some weight to put behind apply for sequencing cash.</p>
<p>It's also about setting up zero tech methods - these things manage it in the wild all by themselves, the image of a sterile white lab with containment cabinets and incubators puts people off and isn't needed for…</p>
<p>Hi</p>
<p>I'm hoping to stimulate some innovation and interest in treating these like any other species we bring into cultivation. I'd like to curate and store cultures, when fun things start cropping up I'd have some weight to put behind apply for sequencing cash.</p>
<p>It's also about setting up zero tech methods - these things manage it in the wild all by themselves, the image of a sterile white lab with containment cabinets and incubators puts people off and isn't needed for physarum.</p>
<p>I'm raising amoeba by dipping an oat flake in spores then adding it to water - the amoeba feed off the bacteria on the decaying oat. Making plasmodia is a question of dotting out onto agar or damp paper and waiting, overcrowding and starvation push them into cell fusion. A microscope helps in spotting the young slimes but it's not essential and nothing needs to be sterile. As the agar's non nutrient, vegan 'gelatin' is all you need. </p>
<p></p> Are you hoping to become the…tag:slimoco.ning.com,2019-11-04:3917201:Comment:468002019-11-04T09:53:00.070ZEleanor Relfhttp://slimoco.ning.com/profile/EleanorRelf
<p>Are you hoping to become the keeper of the Physarum strain library? I read they have been used for research on cell cycle genetics so presumably that was with colour markers or something? Also, presumably there could be funding available for gene sequencing if they are useful for such things and it means not reinventing the wheel everytime someone wants to do any research. I would love to join in with this, but I sense I would need a microscope and cash for plates, agar etc, which I don't…</p>
<p>Are you hoping to become the keeper of the Physarum strain library? I read they have been used for research on cell cycle genetics so presumably that was with colour markers or something? Also, presumably there could be funding available for gene sequencing if they are useful for such things and it means not reinventing the wheel everytime someone wants to do any research. I would love to join in with this, but I sense I would need a microscope and cash for plates, agar etc, which I don't have at the moment, so I watch with interest, but I might go and forage for some wild slimes in a shoddy unscientific manner and keep this in mind if anything interesting happens. :) </p> I didn't know about the dorma…tag:slimoco.ning.com,2019-10-23:3917201:Comment:461642019-10-23T17:26:04.248ZEvan Brownhttp://slimoco.ning.com/profile/EvanBrown
<p>I didn't know about the dormancy period, thanks for the info! I'm not sure if it's just my search engine, but it seems there's not a ton of information about raising plasmodium from spores. When I obtain the spores how would I go about using them? Let them sit around for a couple weeks on a shelf and then just add to water with bacteria? do they need a dry area to form a plasmodium or will that emerge from liquid in a tube? I was planning on using something similar to a honey tub to obtain…</p>
<p>I didn't know about the dormancy period, thanks for the info! I'm not sure if it's just my search engine, but it seems there's not a ton of information about raising plasmodium from spores. When I obtain the spores how would I go about using them? Let them sit around for a couple weeks on a shelf and then just add to water with bacteria? do they need a dry area to form a plasmodium or will that emerge from liquid in a tube? I was planning on using something similar to a honey tub to obtain sporangia and probably just a test tube to propagate the spores.</p>
<p></p> Cool, it's easier to deal wit…tag:slimoco.ning.com,2019-10-23:3917201:Comment:460672019-10-23T17:08:12.434Zianhttp://slimoco.ning.com/profile/ian
<p>Cool, it's easier to deal with sporanigia if you get the slime off the food when it's big enough. They wander around a lot when they're starving and exposed to light. For my small scale goes I've used clear topped honey tubs - nice and escape proof. For the big trays, I have no idea to stop escapes - I'm trying wiping the rim of the tray with detergent.</p>
<p>I left some in a clear sealed bag once it made spores - that might be a possible route for larger scales - harvesting would just be…</p>
<p>Cool, it's easier to deal with sporanigia if you get the slime off the food when it's big enough. They wander around a lot when they're starving and exposed to light. For my small scale goes I've used clear topped honey tubs - nice and escape proof. For the big trays, I have no idea to stop escapes - I'm trying wiping the rim of the tray with detergent.</p>
<p>I left some in a clear sealed bag once it made spores - that might be a possible route for larger scales - harvesting would just be crush the bag around a bit and sieve.</p>
<p>They have a dormancy period of a few weeks btw.</p> I'm working on raising one of…tag:slimoco.ning.com,2019-10-21:3917201:Comment:462502019-10-21T18:17:25.409ZEvan Brownhttp://slimoco.ning.com/profile/EvanBrown
<p>I'm working on raising one of the sclerotia I got from you up using the concentric rings of oats method on agar agar. I'm going to let that one form sporangia and start from there. </p>
<p>I'm working on raising one of the sclerotia I got from you up using the concentric rings of oats method on agar agar. I'm going to let that one form sporangia and start from there. </p> Cool, we'll need spores for t…tag:slimoco.ning.com,2019-10-16:3917201:Comment:458832019-10-16T06:08:31.040Zianhttp://slimoco.ning.com/profile/ian
<p>Cool, we'll need spores for this - I have some drying at the moment, they take a few weeks of sitting around dry before they'll hatch. Do you have access to agar? My current method is squash sporocarp in 1ml water, add one oat flake, leave dark for two weeks and spot out onto agar - colonies appear over the next 7 - 20 days. You can do it on paper but colonies take longer to form.</p>
<p>The idea would be to post out spores and sclerotia of A2 ( the very orange) and jm ( the pale) and start…</p>
<p>Cool, we'll need spores for this - I have some drying at the moment, they take a few weeks of sitting around dry before they'll hatch. Do you have access to agar? My current method is squash sporocarp in 1ml water, add one oat flake, leave dark for two weeks and spot out onto agar - colonies appear over the next 7 - 20 days. You can do it on paper but colonies take longer to form.</p>
<p>The idea would be to post out spores and sclerotia of A2 ( the very orange) and jm ( the pale) and start by selfing - raise from a single parent sporocarp then select from the next generations.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Crossing can be done properly - if you can be bothered to sit with a microscope and pipette collecting single spores ( takes ages and has a low success rate so only did jm) but I figured for a cross we just mix two batches of spores and hope for the best. As long as we raise and save sclerotia we can always unravel the genetic mess later.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Still bashing out details - any ideas are most welcome </p>
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