I want to suspend hyphe in water or aqueous solution. Soil fungi are usually quite hydrophobic so it's making it harder. I don't want to tease each sample apart with forceps.
Have you tried 0.1% Tween 20 or Tween 80? Its a surfactant often used to help collect Aspergillus mycelia/spores, as well as help spore droplets stick to plants during infection assays. It may help with the hygrophobicity problem.
Fungal cell-cell interactions are believed to be mediated through salt bridges, hydrophobic interactions between flocculin proteins and specific binding to polysaccharids in the cell wall. Most of these interactions are dependent on Ca2+, and some flocculating yeasts, and immobilised cells in filamentous fungus pellets can be dispersed with EDTA. Please see attached paper.
Article Pellet formation of zygomycetes and immobilization of yeast
Sterile 0.01-0.1% Tween is a good suggestion by Oliver! I work with Aspergillus spp. as well and we use tween to make our aqueous spore suspensions. Although, if a particular fungus doesn't make much spores, try doing overlay with molten agar and then scrape off the hyphae by spreading 10-15 ml Tween. I hope it helps. Good luck!
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