Protosteliomycetes/Protosteliales (

ICBN The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all those "trad ...

) or Protostelea/Protostelia/Protosteliida ( ICZN) is a 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 from the phylum

Mycetozoa Mycetozoa is a polyphyletic grouping of slime molds. It was originally thought to be a monophyletic clade, but recently it was discovered that protostelia are a polyphyletic group within Conosa. Classification It can be divided into dictyoste ...

. The name can vary depending upon the taxon used. Other names include Protostelea, Protostelia, and Protostelida. When not implying a specific level of classification, the term protostelid or protosteloid amoeba is sometimes used. Protosteloid amoebae, also called protostelids, are

amoebae An amoeba (; less commonly spelled ameba or amœba; plural ''am(o)ebas'' or ''am(o)ebae'' ), often called an amoeboid, is a type of cell or unicellular organism with the ability to alter its shape, primarily by extending and retracting pseudopo ...

that are capable of making simple

fruiting bodies The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cyc ...

consisting of a

cellular Cellular may refer to: *Cellular automaton, a model in discrete mathematics * Cell biology, the evaluation of cells work and more * ''Cellular'' (film), a 2004 movie *Cellular frequencies, assigned to networks operating in cellular RF bands *Cell ...

stalk topped by one or a few

spores In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, ...

. All species are

microscopic The microscopic scale () is the scale of objects and events smaller than those that can easily be seen by the naked eye, requiring a lens or microscope to see them clearly. In physics, the microscopic scale is sometimes regarded as the scale be ...

and are typically found on dead plant matter where they consume

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometr ...

yeasts Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitut ...

, and

fungal A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...

spores. Since protostelids are amoebae that make spores, they are considered to be

slime molds 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 ...

Classification

It includes for example the following genera: *

Cavosteliaceae 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 ...

(family) ** '' Cavostelium'' (genus) ** ''

Planoprotostelium ''Planoprotostelium aurantium'' is a mycetozoa Mycetozoa is a polyphyletic grouping of slime molds. It was originally thought to be a monophyletic clade, but recently it was discovered that protostelia are a polyphyletic group within Conosa ...

'' (genus) *

Ceratiomyxaceae ''Ceratiomyxa'' is a genus of plasmodial slime mould within the Eumycetozoa, first described by Pier Antonio Micheli. They are widely distributed and commonly found on decaying wood. The plasmodium often appears as white frost-like growth or th ...

(family) ** ''

Ceratiomyxa ''Ceratiomyxa'' is a genus of plasmodial slime mould within the Eumycetozoa, first described by Pier Antonio Micheli. They are widely distributed and commonly found on decaying wood. The plasmodium often appears as white frost-like growth or th ...

'' (genus) *

Protosteliaceae 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 ...

(family) ** '' Protostelium'' (genus)

Taxonomy and relationships

As a subclass, Protostelia has been described as paraphyletic to the protostelid clade, as Protostelia excludes the clade of myxomycetes, which are embedded in the protostelid clade. The formal

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

of protosteloid amoebae groups them all according to fruiting bodies, mostly leaving out characteristics of the amoebae. Recent studies have shown that all protosteloid amoebae studied to date are probably included in the group known as Amoebozoa or Eumycetozoa. However, protosteloid amoebae are not all closely related and some fall within groups of amoebae in which the other amoebae are nonfruiting. Therefore, it appears that the ability to make fruiting bodies may have

evolved Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

more than once.

Ecology

Protosteloid amoebae are typically found on dead plant matter, including stems and leaves of

herbaceous plants Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

, stems and leaves of

grasses Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns ...

, bark of living trees, decaying wood and other types of dead plant matter. Protosteloid amoebae are found on dead plant matter that has fallen on the ground, on dead plant parts that are still hanging in the air and on dead parts of plants that are submerged in a pond. They have also been detected on the petals of living flowers and on living tree leaves. Since protosteloid amoebae eat bacteria, yeasts, and fungal spores in the laboratory, it is thought that they also do this in nature. They are thus thought to be predators in the

decomposer Decomposers are organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms; they carry out decomposition, a process possible by only certain kingdoms, such as fungi. Like herbivores and predators, decomposers are heterotrophic, meaning that they use o ...

community.

Distribution

Collections of protostelids have been made from all continents, including the Antarctic peninsula. Protostelids have also been found on isolated islands like

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

and Ascension Island in the southern

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, indicating that protostelids have a worldwide distribution. Most studies of protostelid distribution have been done in the

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

zones so they are best known from these areas. However,

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

studies have turned up protostelids, often in great abundance.

Collection and laboratory culture

Since protosteloid amoebae are microscopic one must bring their substrates, dead plant matter, into the laboratory to find them. Dead plant matter is placed on the agar surface in a petri plate and allowed to incubate for several days to a week. Then the edges of the substrates are scanned with a compound microscope and species are identified by their fruiting body

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

and amoebal morphology. When protosteloid fruiting bodies are found they can be moved into laboratory

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

onto an appropriate food organism or mix of organisms. This is done by picking up fruiting bodies or spores with a sterilised needle and moving them onto agar in a fresh petri plate that has been smeared with a bacterium or yeast upon which the protosteloid amoeba species has been known to grow. If the spores

germinate Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore. The term is applied to the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the spores of fungi, fer ...

then the protostelid begins eating the food organism and a culture is established. File:Ceratiomyxa.fruticulosa.jpg, ''

'' sp. File:Ceratiomyxa_Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk,_Russia._3.jpg, ''Ceratiomyxa'' sp. File:ProtsteliumMycophagaAmoeba.jpg, Amoeboid phase of '' Protostelium'' sp.

References

Eumycetozoa Amoebozoa orders {{Amoebozoa-stub