Dear Katja,

What exactly do you mean typing 'extracted spores'?

This look like cleistothecial fruit body or maybe sclerotium. .You should release its content to see. The background of the photo is overexposed so it's impossible to see any details around the body. And photos of hyphae with any structures may be also useful.

I used the wet sieving method to extract spores (wanted mainly extract arbuscular mycorrhizae spores) from soil of filed samples.

This undoubtedly a cleistothecial fruit body belong to Ascomycota but I should think about species. I haven't deal with mycorrzhizal fungi for long and I'm not completely sure it's the one of them. It's better to see asci along with ascospores and please place missing scale bar to the second photo with only mature fruit body to determine the spore size. It may be critical for determination. Bicellular with light apical appendices... I will think. 

My question about spore extraction arose from the presence of fruit body at the 1st photo instead of single spores...

Dear Drs !!

Please microscopy using the following method [slide culture],

if possible...!?   * In my opinion, seems possible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RJKvTngF5s

2015.03.08.SUN.

Sincerely yours 

Dear Maria,

Thank you for all your hints. This was VERY helpful for me.

I was wondering especially what the natural size of the fruiting body might be. From what you say it's probably developing underground. A description of the spores also would be important. I am not sure whether it is an ascomycete or a basidiomycete, actually.

Thank you for the response. I will extract more spores in the next few weeks and look in more detail to all the suggested things. I will keep you up to date on resaerch gate.

Dear Harald, Why do you think of basidiomycete? I wondered what group do you suggest??

i think alternaria species where its spores are club shaped

From the spore morphology, this fungi is very similar to Savoryella and Ascotaiwania (ascomycetes). Anyway, I am confused with its cleistothecium-like structure.

1) If you have more information to help everyone.

Sample Locality information: host, temperature, humidity, etc.

2) Precision micrograph required!

   - Break the sample in order to take a sharp spore photos!

Dear All,

Thanks for the respones.

@ Mohamed: I do not think it is Altanaria because the spores are different septated. (They have a cross-cutting but this spores do not have).

@Rampai: I have checked the species you suggested and you are absolutely right. It lokks very much like Savorylla!! But yes, the cleistothecium like structure is unusual.

@ Woo-Sik: Sample location: Northwest Territorries (Canada), Lac de Gras, temperatures from +30 to -52°C, arctic tundra, frueit bodies were found on natural sites under Carex species and on different reclamation sites. I will do my best to provide a better picture of spores in the next few days.

Dr. Katija

Thank you.

We look forward to a good photo!

2015.03.15.SUN. 23:21

Dear Katja,

- perithecial ascomata may look like cleistothecia when immature. And ostiole may form at various developmental stages depending on growth conditions.

- many of extremophilic species tend to lack ostiole like, for instanse, my favorite species Sodiomyces alkalinus (Plectosphaerellaceae) so don't be confused by cleistothecia under extreme conditions. This may be an adaptive feature.

Savoryellales is really good idea (see attached paper on Savoryellales which will maybe useful for you):

Thank you all for your responses and the paper! The paper is very helpful!!

Here are now some hopefully better photos of spores from the cleistothecium.

In my opinion; Savoryella longispora

 Ascomata: 192-326 �m high x 116-224 �m in diam., superficial or partly immersed, subglobose or ellipsoidal, pale brown to dark brown, ostiolate, papillate, periphysate, membranaceous, solitary.

Asci: 112-156 x 15-22 �m, 8-spored, elongate-cylindrical or clavate, short pedunculate, thin-walled, unitunicate, semipersistent or persistent.

Ascospores: 33.5-46.5 x 7.5-12 �m, uni- to biseriate, ellipsoidal, 3-septate, central cells brown, apical cells, hyaline, constricted at the septa.

http://www.niobioinformatics.in/fungi/Micro-cd/htm/savol~1.htm

Sincerely yours

Woo-Sik Jo

2015.03.17.TUE 00:05