Mycetozoa is a

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of conver ...

grouping of

slime mold Slime mold or slime mould is an informal name given to several kinds of unrelated eukaryotic organisms with a life cycle that includes a free-living single-celled stage and the formation of spores. Spores are often produced in macroscopic mul ...

s. It was originally thought to be a monophyletic clade, but recently it was discovered that

protostelia Protosteliomycetes/Protosteliales (ICBN) or Protostelea/Protostelia/Protosteliida ( ICZN) is a grouping of slime molds from the phylum Mycetozoa. The name can vary depending upon the taxon used. Other names include Protostelea, Protostelia, and P ...

are a polyphyletic group within

Conosa Conosa is a grouping of Amoebozoa. It is subdivided into three groups – Archamoebae, Variosea ( paraphyletic) and Mycetozoa (polyphyletic). In some classifications, the mycetozoan Myxogastria and Dictyostelia are united in Macromyceto ...

Classification

It can be divided into

dictyostelid The dictyostelids (Dictyostelia/Dictyostelea, ICZN, or Dictyosteliomycetes, ICBN) are a group of cellular slime molds, or social amoebae. Multicellular behavior When food (normally bacteria) is readily available dictyostelids behave as individu ...

, myxogastrid, and

protostelid Protosteliomycetes/Protosteliales (ICBN) or Protostelea/Protostelia/Protosteliida (ICZN) is a grouping of slime molds from the phylum Mycetozoa. The name can vary depending upon the taxon used. Other names include Protostelea, Protostelia, and Pr ...

groups. The mycetozoan groups all fit into the

unikont Amorphea are members of a taxonomic supergroup that includes the basal Amoebozoa and Obazoa. That latter contains the Opisthokonta, which includes the Fungus, Fungi, Animals and the Choanomonada, or Choanoflagellates. The taxonomic affinities of ...

supergroup Amoebozoa, whereas most other slime molds fit into various

bikont A bikont ("two flagella") is any of the eukaryotic organisms classified in the group Bikonta. Many single-celled members of the group, and the presumed ancestor, have two flagella. Enzymes Another shared trait of bikonts is the fusion of two ge ...

groups ( fonticulids are

opisthokonts The opisthokonts () are a broad group of eukaryotes, including both the animal and fungus kingdoms. The opisthokonts, previously called the "Fungi/Metazoa group", are generally recognized as a clade. Opisthokonts together with Apusomonadida and ...

Utility in research

The

dictyostelids The dictyostelids (Dictyostelia/Dictyostelea, ICZN, or Dictyosteliomycetes, ICBN) are a group of cellular slime molds, or social amoebae. Multicellular behavior When food (normally bacteria) is readily available dictyostelids behave as individ ...

are used as examples of cell communication and differentiation, and may provide insights into how

multicellular organisms A multicellular organism is an organism that consists of more than one cell, in contrast to unicellular organism. All species of animals, land plants and most fungi are multicellular, as are many algae, whereas a few organisms are partially uni ...

develop. ''

Physarum polycephalum ''Physarum polycephalum'', an acellular slime mold or myxomycete popularly known as "the blob", is a protist with diverse cellular forms and broad geographic distribution. The “acellular” moniker derives from the plasmodial stage of the li ...

'' are useful for studying cytoplasmic streaming. They have also been used to study the biochemical events that surround mitosis, since all of the nuclei in a medium-sized plasmodium divide in synchrony. It has been observed that they can find their way through mazes by spreading out and choosing the shortest path, an interesting example of information processing without a

nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its actions and sensory information by transmitting signals to and from different parts of its body. The nervous system detects environmental changes ...

. Myxomycete plasmodia have also been used to study the genetics of asexual cell fusion. The giant size of the plasmodial cells allows for easy evaluation of complete or partial cell fusion. In 2006, researchers at the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

and the University of Kobe reported that they had built a six-legged robot whose movement was remotely controlled by a ''Physarum'' slime mold. The mold directed the

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may ...

into a dark corner most similar to its natural habitat. Slime molds are sometimes studied in advanced mathematics courses. Slime mold aggregation is a natural process that can be approximated with

partial differential equations In mathematics, a partial differential equation (PDE) is an equation which imposes relations between the various partial derivatives of a multivariable function. The function is often thought of as an "unknown" to be solved for, similarly to ...

Meiosis

Members of the Mycetozoa group are able to undergo

sexual reproduction Sexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that involves a complex life cycle in which a gamete ( haploid reproductive cells, such as a sperm or egg cell) with a single set of chromosomes combines with another gamete to produce a zygote th ...

either by

heterothallic Heterothallic species have sexes that reside in different individuals. The term is applied particularly to distinguish heterothallic fungi, which require two compatible partners to produce sexual spores, from homothallic ones, which are capable ...

homothallic Homothallic refers to the possession, within a single organism, of the resources to reproduce sexually; i.e., having male and female reproductive structures on the same thallus. The opposite sexual functions are performed by different cells of a si ...

mating. An analysis of

meiosis Meiosis (; , since it is a reductional division) is a special type of cell division of germ cells in sexually-reproducing organisms that produces the gametes, such as sperm or egg cells. It involves two rounds of division that ultimately r ...

-related genes in the ''

Dictyostelium discoideum ''Dictyostelium discoideum'' is a species of soil-dwelling amoeba belonging to the phylum Amoebozoa, infraphylum Mycetozoa. Commonly referred to as slime mold, ''D. discoideum'' is a eukaryote that transitions from a collection of unicellular ...

'' genome revealed that 36 of the 44 genes tested were present in the genome. One gene, '' Spo11'', was absent in the Mycetozoa, raising questions about the assumed universal role of ''Spo11'' as an initiator of meiosis. File:Slime Mold DP2.jpg, Slime mold on lawn, USA. Trail of movement can be seen. File:Fuligo septica bl1.JPG, ''

Fuligo septica ''Fuligo septica'' is a species of slime mold, and a member of the class Myxomycetes. It is commonly known as scrambled egg slime, or flowers of tan because of its peculiar yellowish appearance. It is also known as dog vomit slime mold, and is ...

''. File:Brefeldia maxima plasmodium on wood.jpg, '' Brefeldia maxima'' on a tree stump in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. File:08 04 morphological concepts, orders of Myxomycota (M. Piepenbring).png, Sporangia types in the

s and in the myxogastrid groups ( Echinosteliales, Liceales, Trichiales, Stemonitales,

Physarales Physarales is an order of Amoebozoa in the class Myxomycetes. It contains three families, the Didymiaceae Didymiaceae is a family of plasmodial slime molds in the order Physarales. Genera The family contains the following four genera: * ' ...

)

References

External links

Slime Molds
from abc.net.au
Hunting Slime Molds
from ''

Smithsonian Magazine ''Smithsonian'' is the official journal published by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The first issue was published in 1970. History The history of ''Smithsonian'' began when Edward K. Thompson, the retired editor of ''Life'' mag ...

'' *
dictyBase
is an online informatics resource for Dictyostelium, a cellular slime mould.
nomen.eumycetozoa.com
is an online nomenclatural information system of slime moulds (Myxomycetes, Dictyostelids and Protostelids) of the world.
Photo gallerySlime Mold Photos
Life cycle of Reticularia lycoperdon at MushooMania.com.
Video footage of common slime moulds.
{{Authority control Infraphyla