I'm trying to obtain colonies with only mycelia and without spores. I know you can use the calcofluor white staining for the fungi because it binds the cell wall of spores and it's fluorescent. Does it work also with Aspergillus niger? And does it bind only the spores or also the mycelium? Because I need to see if in my colony there is only mycelium or still some spores.
Thank you in advance
Calcofluor white is a nonspecific fluorescent dye that stains the polysaccharides. Aspergillus niger spores could be stained with Calcofluor white provided they are not very old (usually not more than 7 d old), as melanization in older spores may prevent the entry of dye.
Hi Costanza,
As Elaj said, Calcofluor dyes bind to polysaccharides such as cellulose or chitin, this is why they stain plant cell walls as well as fungi hyphae.
I think it would be troublesome for you to try and see fluorescent spores amongst fluorescent hyphae and I am not sure that it will have any benefit to do so rather than transmitted white light. Moreover, as it stains polysaccharides, it will stain also culture media gelified with agarose or alginate, giving a high background noise.
I suggest that you rather try phase contrast or darkfield to identify spores among mycellium.
Cheers
Oliv
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