Mycetozoa
| Mycetozoa | |
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| Aethalium of a slime mold (Fuligo septica) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| (unranked): | |
| Subphylum: | |
| Infraphylum: |
Mycetozoa
de Bary, 1873
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| Classes and orders | |
| Synonyms | |
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Mycetozoa is a grouping of slime molds.[2]
Classification
It can be divided into dictyostelid, myxogastrid, and protostelid groups.[3]
The mycetozoan groups all fit into the unikont supergroup Amoebozoa, whereas most other slime molds fit into various bikont groups (fonticulids are opisthokonts).
Utility in research
Dictyostelids are used as examples of cellular communication and differentiation, and may provide insights into how multicellular organisms develop.
Slime molds like Physarum polycephalum are useful for studying cytoplasmic streaming. They have also been used to study the biochemical events that surround mitosis, since all 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. 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 and the University of Kobe reported that they had built a six-legged robot whose movement was remotely controlled by a Physarum slime mold.[4] The mold directed the robot 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.[citation needed]
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Slime mold on lawn, USA. Trail of movement can be seen.
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Brefeldia maxima on a tree stump in Scotland.
References
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<references />, or <references group="..." />External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mycetozoa. |
- Slime Molds
- Slime Mold Solves Maze Puzzle from abc.net.au
- Hunting Slime Molds from Smithsonian Magazine
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- 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 gallery
- Introduction to the "Slime Molds"
- Slime Mold Photos Life cycle of Reticularia lycoperdon at MushooMania.com.
- ↑ Whittaker, R. H. (1969). New concepts of kingdoms or organisms. Science 163 (3863): 150–160.
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