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Visualization of High Speed Liquid Jet Impaction on a Moving Surface

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Ascus function: From squirt guns to ooze tubes.

Nicholas P Money¹, Jessica Stolze-Rybczynski², B Eugene Smith¹

¹Western Program and Department of Biology, Miami University, Oxford, OH, 45056, USA.

|December 14, 2023

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Fungal asci operate like pressurized squirt guns, expelling spores rapidly. This mechanism, crucial for fungal reproduction, drives the fastest known fungal movements and influences fungal evolution.

Keywords:

Ascomycetes Biomechanics Dispersal Spores Turgor pressure

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Area of Science:

Mycology
Fungal Biology
Biomechanics

Background:

Ascospore discharge mechanisms have been studied since the 19th century.
Structural adaptations in asci facilitate spore expulsion over varying distances.
Previous research utilized experiments and mathematical models to estimate launch speeds.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the historical understanding and current knowledge of ascospore discharge.
To explain the mechanisms of ascus pressurization, spore release, and travel distance.
To compare the efficiency of ascospore discharge with ballistospore discharge and its evolutionary impact.

Main Methods:

Historical review of mycological studies.
Analysis of structural adaptations in asci (valves, gelatinous appendages).
Application of high-speed video microscopy for microsecond timescale imaging.

Main Results:

Ascospore discharge is confirmed as the fastest fungal movement and among the fastest biological movements.
Valves and gelatinous appendages enhance spore velocity and momentum.
The 'squirt gun' mechanism has constrained the evolution of fungal fruit body morphology.

Conclusions:

The pressurized 'squirt gun' model accurately describes ascospore discharge.
High-speed microscopy validates previous inferences about ascus function.
Ascospore discharge is a highly efficient and evolutionarily significant process in Ascomycetes.