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ACS ABV440, an albino isolation of Bluey Vuitton
Behind the libraryIssue 01 · No. 30 of 55

Albino, leucistic and true albino: what the words mean and how to tell them apart on a slide

Half the modern strain names carry a colour word: Albino Penis Envy, Leucistic Ochra, True Albino Melmak. They are not decoration. Each describes a different pigment state, and each predicts what you will see when you print the line and put it on a slide.

MycoWorld · The Genetics Library20 September 20262 min readMicroscopy use only
ACS ABV440, an albino isolation of Bluey Vuitton: no pigment in cap, gills or spores.Photo: MycoWorld library

01Three pigment states

  • Albino. The fruiting body lacks pigment: white cap, white gills, white stem. In common usage the word is applied loosely, and some "albino" lines still drop pigmented spores.
  • Leucistic. Reduced pigment rather than none. The fruiting body is pale, cream or off-white, often with a tinge of colour at the cap centre, and the spores are usually still pigmented. Leucistic Ochra and Aussie Big Boi (Leucistic) are examples.
  • True albino. No pigment anywhere, spores included. True Albino Teacher and True Albino Melmak (TAM) use the word precisely: their prints are pale grey and their spores are glassy under the objective.
Albino Saturn Tidepool, an albino isolate
Albino Saturn Tidepool, an albino isolate in stock. Print it and the deposit is pale grey; a leucistic line prints purple-brown.Photo: MycoWorld library

02The print test

Because the words are used loosely, the reliable test is the spore print. A pale grey or off-white deposit means unpigmented spores and a genuinely albino line. A purple-brown deposit from a white mushroom means leucism, however the card describes it. It takes one print and no microscope, and it is the test the library applies before a card says "true albino".

It takes one print and no microscope.

03On the slide

Unpigmented spores are the same size and shape as pigmented ones; they are simply transparent. At 400x with the light turned up they vanish. Close the condenser diaphragm partway, drop the illumination, and the wall outline appears. It is a skill worth learning early, because the albino families (APE, Jack Frost, ABV, TAT and their crosses) make up a large share of modern breeding and all of them behave this way.

04Reverts

A revert is a line that came back to a pigmented form from an albino or mutant parent. MRRL (Melmak Revert) and BAPER (Blue APE Revert) are both in the library. Reverts are a useful control: same lineage as the albino, pigment restored, so the spores read normally. An albino beside its revert is one of the clearer demonstrations of what pigment does to a slide.

MRRL, a revert to a pigmented form
MRRL (Melmak Revert), pigment restored. An albino beside its revert is one of the clearer comparisons in the library.Photo: MycoWorld library

05Albino lines in the library

APE isolates (MFH Ape, Snape 50, Blue APE 156), the Jack Frost family, Albino Bluey Vuitton and its A.C.S isolation ABV440, Albino B+ (Mad Hatter), True Albino Melmak, Albino Trinity, Albino Makilla Gorilla and Albino Saturn Tidepool. Leucistic lines include Leucistic Ochra and Aussie Big Boi. The card says which, and the print confirms it.

MFH Ape, an isolated APE line
MFH Ape, one of the albino lines in stock now.Photo: MycoWorld library

Questions people ask

What is the difference between albino and leucistic?

Albino means no pigment; leucistic means reduced pigment. In practice the test is the print: pale grey means truly albino spores, purple-brown means leucistic.

Why does "true albino" appear in some names?

To state that the spores, not just the fruiting body, are unpigmented. True Albino Teacher and True Albino Melmak use it that way.

Are albino spores harder to study?

They need better contrast technique, not more magnification. Lower the light and close the condenser diaphragm.