Dispensing Fungal Spores

Isolation of individual germinating fungal spores is challenging due to the size and fragility of newly formed hyphae. Fungal spores can be quite large, with diameters greater than 30 μm and hyphae that can reach lengths of 100 μm or more. Because of these features, traditional cell sorters are not an ideal choice for sorting germinating fungal spores. In addition to having small dispensing nozzles that can be easily clogged by long hyphae, these high-pressure systems (20-70 psi) can rupture the hyphae and greatly reduce the viability of isolated spores. Another pitfall is the risk of subsequent contamination of the device with non-germinating fungal spores, which are notoriously difficult to kill.

Namocell’s Single Cell Dispensers are gentle, low-pressure systems (<2 psi) with large dispensing nozzles that can accommodate the long hyphae of germinating spores without clogging while also preserving cell viability after isolation. Additionally, Namocell’s disposable microfluidic cell cartridges ensure no risk of sample carryover between experiments, removing the risk of contamination. Learn how this dispenser was used to sort and isolate individual, fluorescently labeled germinating fungal spores among non-germinating spores.