The Effect of Environment Upon the Production of Sporangia and Sporangiola in Blakeslea Trispora Thaxter

Abstract

The purpose of the following experiments was to study the effects of various environmental conditions upon the production of the two types of sporangia in Blakeslea trispora; the large solitary sporangia which possess a columella; and the smaller ones, termed sporangiola, which lack a columella and occur in considerable numbers over the surface of large spherical sporangioliferous heads. The effect of environment upon the production of sporangia in the Mucorales has already been studied by several botanists. Klebs ( '96), working with Mucor racemosus which has no sporangiola, studied the effect of quantity and quality of the substrate upon sporangial production, also the effects of humidity, atmospheric pressure, temperature, and light. He discovered that the quantity and quality of the substrate play the dominant role in the production of sporangia. Tavel ('86) and Bachmann ('95) reported the effect of nourishment upon the formation of the two types of sporangia in Thamnidium elegans. Under favorable conditions of nourishment continued through several generations, the sporangiola became as large and contained as many spores as the sporangia. Conversely,