Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
One water sample from a golf course hazard, and the very first diatom I found was something I'd never seen. No golden color, no movement — just a glass shell packed with strange little orbs I couldn't explain. I had no idea what they were.
The next day I found another one, and this time it gave me a clue. What it led to was hiding in a detail almost too small to notice.
Watch to see how the mystery unravels — and what was really hiding inside that diatom.
⏱️ Key moments in the video:
00:00 — A diatom full of orbs
00:34 — Where the sample came from
01:11 — A second diatom, this one ejecting material
02:33 — From one to many
03:55 — The process, step by step
04:55 — But the first diatom was different
05:24 — Another diatom like the mystery diatom
06:18 — The clue hiding in the flagella
07:25 — The answer to our mystery
08:56 — What's happening at The Vintage Club?
#Diatoms #DiatomParasites #Parasites #Oomycete #Chytrid #Zoospores #Microscopy #ThaiMicrocosmos
Sources:
Buaya et al. (2018), Novel widespread marine oomycetes parasitising diatoms. Frontiers in Microbiology 9:2918. frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2018.02918/full
Buaya & Thines (2021), A new holocarpic endoparasitoid of pennate freshwater diatoms (Miracula einbuarlaekurica). Mycology. tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21501203.2021.1980446
Schnepf, Deichgräber & Drebes (1978), Zoospore formation and release in the diatom-parasitic oomycete Lagenisma coscinodisci. Protoplasma 94:263–280. link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01276776
Beakes, Glockling & Sekimoto (2012), The evolutionary phylogeny of the oomycete "fungi." Protoplasma 249:3–19. link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00709-011-0269-2
Sime-Ngando (2012), Phytoplankton chytridiomycosis: fungal parasites of phytoplankton. Frontiers in Microbiology 3:361. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3469839
One water sample from a golf course hazard, and the very first diatom I found was something I'd never seen. No golden color, no movement — just a glass shell packed with strange little orbs I couldn't explain. I had no idea what they were.
The next day I found another one, and this time it gave me a clue. What it led to was hiding in a detail almost too small to notice.
Watch to see how the mystery unravels — and what was really hiding inside that diatom.
⏱️ Key moments in the video:
00:00 — A diatom full of orbs
00:34 — Where the sample came from
01:11 — A second diatom, this one ejecting material
02:33 — From one to many
03:55 — The process, step by step
04:55 — But the first diatom was different
05:24 — Another diatom like the mystery diatom
06:18 — The clue hiding in the flagella
07:25 — The answer to our mystery
08:56 — What's happening at The Vintage Club?
#Diatoms #DiatomParasites #Parasites #Oomycete #Chytrid #Zoospores #Microscopy #ThaiMicrocosmos
Sources:
Buaya et al. (2018), Novel widespread marine oomycetes parasitising diatoms. Frontiers in Microbiology 9:2918. frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2018.02918/full
Buaya & Thines (2021), A new holocarpic endoparasitoid of pennate freshwater diatoms (Miracula einbuarlaekurica). Mycology. tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21501203.2021.1980446
Schnepf, Deichgräber & Drebes (1978), Zoospore formation and release in the diatom-parasitic oomycete Lagenisma coscinodisci. Protoplasma 94:263–280. link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01276776
Beakes, Glockling & Sekimoto (2012), The evolutionary phylogeny of the oomycete "fungi." Protoplasma 249:3–19. link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00709-011-0269-2
Sime-Ngando (2012), Phytoplankton chytridiomycosis: fungal parasites of phytoplankton. Frontiers in Microbiology 3:361. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3469839
