How to read a strain name: f2, iso, x and the words on a spore syringe label
A label like "El Toque f2 (El Choco x Toque f8)" packs a lot into a few characters. Once you can read it, every listing in the library tells you exactly what you are looking at.
01The parents: what "x" means
A multiplication sign between two names means a cross: the line was made by bringing the two parents together, and the name in front is what the geneticist called the result. "Blue Voodoo (Blue Ravioli x Natal Moon)" is a cross of two established lines. "Gamma Decay (Blue Rav x Black Betty Gates)" is another, and DreadMaw is an isolate taken from Gamma Decay, which is why its full name reads "DreadMaw (Gamma Decay iso)". The lineage explorer draws these trees for the whole library.
02Generations: f1, f2, f8
The f number counts generations from the original cross. f1 is the first generation, f2 the next, and so on. A higher number usually means the line has been worked for longer and is more settled. "Toque f8" in a parent name tells you that Toque had been taken through eight generations before it was used in the cross.
Once you can read it, every listing in the library tells you exactly what you are looking at.
03iso, isolate, isolated
A single studied phenotype selected out of a line and stabilised. It is the most important word on the label for microscopy because it promises a consistent spore population. Our isolated genetics guide covers what that means in practice.
04Colour words: albino, leucistic, blue
- Albino lines lack pigment in cap and spores; the spores are translucent under the objective.
- Leucistic lines are pale but not fully unpigmented, often with normally coloured spores. "Leucistic Ochra" is one.
- Blue in a name usually refers to the bruising or colouring the breeder selected for; it is a phenotype word, not a species.
- Revert ("MRRL (Melmak Revert)", "BAPER (Blue APE Revert)") means a line that came back to an earlier, usually pigmented, form from a mutant or albino parent.
05Species and collection
Below the name every MycoWorld card gives the species (Cubensis, Ochra, Panaeolus cyanescens and so on), the format, whether it is an isolate, and the collection it comes from: What The Fungi, Sporexchange, A.C.S or Mushrealm. Two syringes with the same headline name but different collections are different lines, and the collection tells you whose work you are looking at.
06A worked example
"King Cold (Jack Frost x Thrasher) iso": an isolate, selected from a cross between Jack Frost and Thrasher, named King Cold by its geneticist. On the slide you would expect a Jack Frost-type pale spore population, tight in size because it is an isolate, and you can look up both parents in the library to compare.
Questions people ask
What does "f2" mean on a spore syringe?
The second generation from the original cross. Higher f numbers mean a line worked through more generations, which usually means more stable.
Does "x" mean the two strains are mixed in the syringe?
No. It means the line was bred from those two parents. The syringe contains spores of the resulting line.
What is a "revert"?
A line that returned to an earlier form, usually a pigmented form from an albino or mutant parent. The word records the history of the line.