Collected reprints: Abstract 3254

Collected reprints

Abstract

Gillis, J. (1987). The Newman method, modified for the estimation of the total thallus length of filamentous algae. Cryptogamie: Algol. 8(2): 107-112

Newman's (1966) method of total root length estimation is modified and adapted to measure total length of filamentous algae in culture (i.c. Polysiphonia). This method makes possible a measurement and an estimation of the growth of the algae in culture without disturbing them. The petri dishes are placed on a 1x1 mm grid and the filament/grid intersections are counted. Total filament length (T) is given by T = Pi N (LxW)/4(LxW), with N = the number of intersections, L = the length and W = width of area in which the thallus is situated. Total filament length of Polysiphonia in culture estimated by the Newman method is compared with camera lucida measurements. The correlation between the results obtained by the 2 techniques is very high (r = 0.97). The maximum deviation between the means of the total length obtained by the 2 methods was 7.2% : these means are not significantly different (Student t-test). The Newman estimation method required less time than direct measurement, and its results are not significantly different.


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