An automatic, multichamber soil-washing apparatus for removing fungal spores from soil

Abstract

An automatic soil-washing apparatus is described which enabled the washing of fungus spores out of large numbers of soil samples simultaneously. Tests of the apparatus indicated that superficial spores were removed from most of the soil particles. This allowed organisms growing in soil as vegetative mycelium to be isolated more readily without the serious competition commonly encountered from organisms sporulating heavily in the soil. Virtually no cross-contamination of soil samples occurred in the multichambered apparatus.