''Echinostelium'' is a genus of
slime mould
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 mu ...
, and the only genus in the family Echinosteliaceae, or Echinosteliidae. It was discovered by
Heinrich Anton de Bary
Heinrich Anton de Bary (26 January 183119 January 1888) was a German surgeon, botanist, microbiologist, and mycologist (fungal systematics and physiology).
He is considered a founding father of plant pathology (phytopathology) as well as the fou ...
in 1855, apparently near
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
. Some species of Echinostelium have a sexual life cycle; others have been shown to be asexual. The plasmodium can divide
vegetatively
Vegetative reproduction (also known as vegetative propagation, vegetative multiplication or cloning) is any form of asexual reproduction occurring in plants in which a new plant grows from a fragment or cutting of the parent plant or spec ...
, in a process called ''plasmotomy'', to distinguish it from true
cell division
Cell division is the process by which a parent cell divides into two daughter cells. Cell division usually occurs as part of a larger cell cycle in which the cell grows and replicates its chromosome(s) before dividing. In eukaryotes, there ar ...
.
Species
The genus ''Echinostelium'' comprises at least five species:
*''
Echinostelium apitectum
''Echinostelium'' is a genus of slime mould, and the only genus in the family Echinosteliaceae, or Echinosteliidae. It was discovered by Heinrich Anton de Bary in 1855, apparently near Frankfurt am Main. Some species of Echinostelium have a sexua ...
''
K. D. Whitney, 1980
*''
Echinostelium colliculosum
''Echinostelium'' is a genus of slime mould, and the only genus in the family Echinosteliaceae, or Echinosteliidae. It was discovered by Heinrich Anton de Bary in 1855, apparently near Frankfurt am Main. Some species of Echinostelium have a sexua ...
''
K. D. Whitney & H. W. Keller, 1980
*''
Echinostelium corynophorum
''Echinostelium'' is a genus of slime mould, and the only genus in the family Echinosteliaceae, or Echinosteliidae. It was discovered by Heinrich Anton de Bary in 1855, apparently near Frankfurt am Main. Some species of Echinostelium have a sexua ...
''
K. D. Whitney, 1980
*''
Echinostelium fragile
''Echinostelium'' is a genus of slime mould, and the only genus in the family Echinosteliaceae, or Echinosteliidae. It was discovered by Heinrich Anton de Bary in 1855, apparently near Frankfurt am Main. Some species of Echinostelium have a sexua ...
''
Nannenga-Bremekamp, 1961
*''
Echinostelium minutum
''Echinostelium'' is a genus of slime mould, and the only genus in the family Echinosteliaceae, or Echinosteliidae. It was discovered by Heinrich Anton de Bary in 1855, apparently near Frankfurt am Main. Some species of Echinostelium have a sexua ...
''
De Bary ''in'' Rostafinsky, 1874
References
Myxogastria
Amoebozoa genera
{{Amoebozoa-stub