Sordaria Genetics Kit - Fungi Kits - Fungi - Living Organisms

My Account (Log In)|Order Tracking|Order by Item #|Shopping Lists|Shopping Cart

800.334.5551|Contact Us|Service & Help|Online Services|International

Search resources,
activities, msds >>

Home > Living Organisms > Fungi > Fungi Kits > Sordaria Genetics Kit

Click image for a larger view.

Mealworm Life Cycle Stages

Pig Embryo Injected Biosmount

Sordaria Genetics Kit

The Sordaria Genetics Kit Includes:

Sordaria fimicola Tube Culture (wild type)
Sordaria fimicola Tube Culture (gray type)
Sordaria fimicola Tube Culture (mutant tan)
Cornmeal-Glucose-Yeast Extract Agar
3 Bottles Sordaria Crossing Agar
20 Sterile Petri Dishes
Autoclave Disposal Bag

Carolina Teacher Tips

QUESTION: How do I know when my Sordaria plate is ready to use?

ANSWER: Use a wooden toothpick to scrape a few perithecia from the plate periphery, where the 2 strains have grown together. Place the perithecia on a microscope slide, add a drop of water, and gently press down on them with a coverslip. The perithecia should break open with gentle pressure and you should see asci with spores (they resemble bubblegum balls in a wrapper). You should also see a color difference between the 2 spore types in their crossover arrangement.

Here are some signs the Sordaria asci are not ready to be used:

You use a lot of pressure to break open the perithecia (the black spheres).
The spores are greenish in color.
You only see darl, sac-like perithecia and no asci with spores.

If the culture is not ready, continue to incubate the plate at 25° C (77° F) and repeat the testing process until the asci mature and rupture easily on the slide. If the culture is still not ready on Friday, the plate can be refrigerated over the weekend. Allow the plate and culture to come to room temperature before rechecking on Monday.

Intermediate - Easy to perform; requires some basic training in microbiology.

Designed for a class of 30 advanced students. Students will culture the 3 Sordaria strains and then set up cross plates of wild type × mutant tan and wild type × mutant gray. The gene to centromere distance for tan and gray genes can then be calculated. Requires the use of a compound microscope. With teacher instructions.

Kit contains coupon for prepaid delivery of perishable materials. Return coupon at least 2 weeks prior to requested delivery date to ensure prompt arrival of materials.