SPORE ATTACHMENT IN MARINE FUNGI

The attachment of spores of 15 marine fungi to Kapok fibres in a rotating vessel was investigated by determining the loss of spores from suspension with time. This loss approximated to first order, and a Mitscherlich function was fitted to the data using the nonlinear optimization routine in the GENSTAT 5.0 package. Bivariate plots of the rate constants in the presence and absence of fibre provide a useful description of the attachment, settlement and behaviour of the spores studied. Spores disappear from suspension more quickly in the presence than in the absence of fibre, but there is only a weak correlation between the rates of settlement under these two sets of conditions. Species such as Remispora pilleata and Remispora stellata with large, appendaged spores tended to attach to the fibre extremely efficiently and to settle out rapidly in the absence of fibre. Those such as Eiona tunicata and Nautosphaeria cristaminuta with smaller, appendaged spores attached less efficiently, and were slower to settle in the absence of fibre. Mucilaginous spores such as Leptosphaeria contecta and Ceriosporopsis circumvestita fell between the latter two groups in their efficiency of attachment, but settled out less rapidly in the absence of fibre. The rates of disappearance from suspension without fibre were more variable in the latter two groups than the first, but all three types show similar variability in the presence of fibre.