As part of my project recording the plant-pathogenic fungi and oomycetes of Ireland, I received an Irish Naturalists’ Journal grant to buy a new microscope. I finally have it and I am excited to use it in my micromycological research this year!
The microscope I got is a Motic Panthera C2 Trinocular. My old microscope is from the 1950s and did not even have powered illumination, so I could not do microscopy in the evening when there was no sunlight available. The new one allows me to work any time of day and get far better images of spores. This is particularly important for rusts where the structure of individual spores is important for identification. It also allows me to make highly accurate measurements of spore size, important for downy mildews, where multiple species on the same host can only be distinguished by the length of their conidia (asexual spores).
The microscope itself is well made. The metal is beautifully machined, and it is very satisfying how it all fits together. It reminds me of the handiwork on my old ‘scope, which predates planned obsolescence and the decline in quality industrial products. The ×40 and ×100 lenses have a wonderful retraction mechanism if they are pressed, reducing the risk of scratches. The objective lenses come with pots, the lids of which screw on to each lens, so they can be transported safely. I would have appreciated the same for the eyepiece lenses, but these seem to be safe enough when attached to the ‘scope in the case. I have to say I haven’t really worked out how to focus the condenser properly, but in fairness I haven’t actually read the manual yet!
I am still learning to use the microscope camera effectively – getting the colour balance and the focus right isn’t easy! The camera itself is a Moticam S20. The photomicrographs I have managed to take are worlds ahead of what I could do before, though. More importantly, they are much more useful when I want to make measurements in ImageJ: adding a scale bar is easy, and the edges of the spores are crisp and clear. I noted that the driver only allows it to be used with Motic’s software, and not as a webcam or with ImageJ or anything else. I think this is poor – it would be useful to be able to use it live with any software I want. As-is, you have to export images from Motic’s software, and import these into other software. The output on their software is a high-resolution bitmap, with a live feed allowing you to adjust the overall exposure and gain as well as those of each of the three colour channels. It also has an automatic white balance function which is very useful.
The images here are from my trip to Wharfedale. Most of the species I found were common and widespread, but one rarity stood out: Urocystis ficariae. This has been on my most-wanted list for about a year, so I was very pleased to find some leaves with unripe spores, which were clearly visible when light shone through the leaf:
Overall my experience of actually buying the microscope was frustrating. I bought it from Fisher Scientific, who normally sell to large academic institutions and companies. They have a guest checkout, which I used, but it is clear they don’t really have the infrastructure required to actually deal with guest orders. I had to ask them several times to actually pay – the microscope had already arrived by the time I managed to send them the money! They also don’t ship to Northern Ireland, so I had to have it shipped to England (a good excuse to visit my partner in Wharfedale). I wouldn’t recommend them if you decide to purchase the same model; thankfully other sellers stock it too.
I am looking forward to using this microscope in my projects this year. The main focus will be finding new species to Ireland, and improving our understanding of distribution and habitat requirements for the many species of plant pathogens that grow here. I am also working on a project comparing plant-pathogen networks in different habitats – more on that later this year.
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