Wm. Bridge Cooke

The enumeration of yeast populations in a sewage treatment plant.

Many species of organisms of a wide biological spectrum are found in water. In bodies of waters with low organic matter content and high dissolved oxygen, the number of species may be high with a large num? ber of aquatic fungi, but the number of individuals may be low. As organic pollutants are added in natural runoff or as a result of community practices, the number of species that can tolerate the changed conditions may increase and the number of individuals of these species will increase. There will be a larger number of soil fungi. With the added organic matter resulting from mans activities, the number of species may or may not decline, and the number of individuals of the tolerant species may continue to increase despite the reduction in avail? able oxygen. Aquatic fungi will decrease, soil fungi may increase, and species and cells of yeasts usually increase. Many of the species of fungi found in highly polluted waters appear to be capable of microaerophilic or anaerobic metabolism that permits their existence under low or nonexistent oxygen supplies. Mans metabolic and organic industrial waste products may be par? tially removed from receiving waters into sewage treatment systems. A limited number of organisms adapted to live in highly organically enriched waters may form balanced associations within sewage treat? ment systems, where, fed by a continual supply of readily usable organic matter, the associations may flourish without serious harm from competitors. In the sampling of populations of organisms in clean and polluted stxeams and in several types of sewage treatment systems, yeasts, as well as filamentous fungi, were obtained. Numbers of yeast colonies appearing on agar plates were low. Dr. L. J. Wickerham, Zymologist, Northern Utilization Research and Development Laboratory, U. S. Department of Agriculture, suggested a shaken-flask yeast enrichment culture technique for determining the relative incidence of yeasts, but in earlier work no quantitative evaluation of the technique was made. It has been used in routine surveys, and qualitative information con-

A new species ofSchwanniomyces: Schwanniomyces alluvius

SummaryA description has been given of a new species of yeast,Schwanniomyces alluvius. It was isolated from moist soil of a creek bank in Ohio. The physiological properties of the new species have been compared in detail with those of the two known species of the genus.

The 1968 Ohio Foray

The 1968 Ohio Foray of the Mycological Society of America preceded the annual meeting of the Mycological Society with the American Institute of Biological Sciences at the Ohio State University, Columbus. The Foray took place on Labor Day weekend. On Saturday we went to an oak woodland in which some pine plantations had been developed in south central Ross County 62 miles south of Columbus in Scioto Trails State Forest and State Park (I). The area is hilly, unglaciated, and lies west of the Scioto River. Sunday we visited two hollows, coves, or valleys in the Hocking Hills in Hocking State Forest. This was mixed woodland with hardwoods, hemlock [Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr.] and scrub pine (Pinus virginiana Mill.). In the morning we collected in Crane Hollow (II), after lunch in the picnic area at Conkles Hollow State Park, and in the afternoon we collected in Long Hollow (III). En route to Crane Hollow we stopped briefly along S. R. 180 about 2 miles west of Enterprise, Hocking Co. (II-A). Here several interesting fungi were found among herbs and willows along a nearby creek. The Hocking Hills are characterized by rugged terrain, the gorges being cut in conglomerate sandstone commonly called Black Hand. The area is unglaciated and the forests on the cliff slopes are relatively undisturbed. Mondays trip was to Camp Lazarus Boy Scout Preserve (IV) in Delaware Co. about 20 miles north of Columbus. Here we collected in a beech-maple forest with small pine plantations on glacial till over Ohio shale along a tributary of the Olentangy River, itself a tributary of the Scioto River. We wish to thank the Ohio State Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation, and Division of Forests and Conservation, and the management of Camp Lazarus, for permission to collect in these areas.