Editing Slime mold (section)

== Diversity ==

Various estimates of the number of species of slime molds agree that there are around 1000 species, most being [[Myxogastria]]. Collection of [[environmental DNA]] gives a higher estimate, from 1200 to 1500 species.<ref name="Schnittler Mitchell 2001">{{cite book |last1=Schnittler |first1=M. |last2=Mitchell |first2=D. W. |article=Species Diversity in Myxomycetes based on the morphological species concept – a critical examination |editor1-first=Wolfgang |editor1-last=Nowotny |editor2-first=Erna |editor2-last=Aescht |orig-year=2000 |date=2001 |title=Wolfsblut und Lohblüte – Lebensformen zwischen Tier und Pflanze |trans-title=Wolves' Blood and Tan Blossom – Life forms between animals and plants |volume=73 |series=Ausstellung im Biologiezentrum des OÖ. Landesmuseums |publisher=OÖ Landes-Kultur |isbn=978-3854740568 |pages=39–53}}</ref> These are diverse both taxonomically and in appearance, the largest and most familiar species being among the Myxogastria. The growth forms most commonly noticed are the [[Sporangium|sporangia]], the spore-forming bodies, which are often roughly spherical; these may be directly on the surface, such as on rotting wood, or may be on a thin stalk which elevates the spores for release above the surface. Other species have the spores in a large mass, which may be visited by insects for food; they disperse spores when they leave.<ref name="Stoyneva-Gärtner Uzunov Androv Ivanov 2022"/>

=== Macroscopic, plasmodial slime molds: Myxogastria ===

{{main|Myxogastria}}

The Myxogastria or [[Plasmodium (slime mold)|plasmodial]] slime molds are the only [[macroscopic scale]] slime molds; they gave the group its informal name, since for part of their life cycle they are slimy to the touch.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPBeCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 |title=Advances in Physarum Machines: Sensing and Computing with Slime Mould |last=Adamatzky |first=Andrew |date=2016 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-26662-6 |page=4}}</ref> A myxogastrian consists of a large cell with [[heterokaryosis|thousands of nuclei]] within a single membrane without walls, forming a [[syncytium]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Ples |first=Marek |date=2023-11-11 |title=Lab Snapshots by Marek Ples; Microbiology - The biology on a different level |url=https://weirdscience.eu/Mikrobio/?id=0/#sm |access-date=2023-07-02 |website=weirdscience.eu}}</ref> Most are smaller than a few centimeters, but some species may reach sizes up to several square meters, and in the case of ''[[Brefeldia maxima]]'', a mass of up to {{convert|20|kg|lb}}.<ref name="Ing 1999">{{cite book |last=Ing |first=B. |title=The myxomycetes of Britain and Ireland: an identification handbook |publisher=Richmond Publishing |location=Slough, England |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-85546-251-2 |pages=4, 9}}</ref><ref name="Nannenga-Bremekamp 1974">{{Cite book |last=Nannenga-Bremekamp |first=N.E. |title=De Nederlandse Myxomyceten |publisher=Koninklijke Nederlandse Natuurhistorische Vereniging |year=1974 |isbn=978-90-03-93130-6 |location=Zuthpen}}</ref><ref name="Zhulidov Robarts 2002">{{cite journal |last1=Zhulidov |first1=Daniel A. |last2=Robarts |first2=Richard D. |last3=Zhulidov |first3=Alexander V. |last4=Zhulidova |first4=Olga V. |last5=Markelov |first5=Danila A. |last6=Rusanov |first6=Viktor A. |last7=Headley |first7=John V. |title=Zinc accumulation by the slime mold ''Fuligo septica'' (L.) Wiggers in the former Soviet Union and North Korea |journal=Journal of Environmental Quality |year=2002 |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=1038–1042 |pmid=12026071 |doi=10.2134/jeq2002.1038 |bibcode=2002JEnvQ..31.1038Z }}</ref>

<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths=175px heights=175px>
File:Stemonitis sp. (Slime Mould) with Ant.jpg |''[[Stemonitis]]'' shows stalked sporangia for airborne spore dispersal.
File:Diachea leucopodia (Bull.) Rostaf 1014107 (cropped).jpg |''[[Diachea leucopodia]]''
File:Fuligo septica bl1.JPG |''[[Fuligo septica]]'' cells aggregate to form a soft mass.
File:Schleimpilz Urwald Sababurg.jpg |''[[Trichia varia]]''
File:Enteridium lycoperdon, (Bull.) M.L. Farr, 1976 (Reticularia lycoperdon) (cropped).JPG |''[[Enteridium lycoperdon]]'' sporangium. Spores can disperse in air or water, or by slime mold flies.<ref name="Stephenson 2000"/>
File:Metatrichia vesparium 82442.jpg|''[[Metatrichia (protist)|Metatrichia vesparium]]'' has small round sporangia that have spiral [[elater]]s to eject their lids and disperse their spores.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Krivomaz |first1=Т. І. |last2=Michaud |first2=A. |last3=Minter |first3=D. W. |title=Metatrichia vesparium |year=2012 |url=https://repositary.knuba.edu.ua/bitstream/987654321/7644/1/1916.pdf}}</ref>
File:EumycetozoaWoblitz02.jpg|''[[Mucilago crustacea]]'' aggregating from a streaming [[Plasmodium (life cycle)|plasmodium]] (network of filaments) to a [[sporangium]] (large mass)
</gallery>

=== Cellular slime molds: Dictyosteliida ===

{{main|Dictyosteliida}}

The [[Dictyosteliida]] or cellular slime molds do not form huge [[coenocyte]]s like the Myxogastria; their amoebae remain individual for most of their lives as individual unicellular [[protist]]s, feeding on microorganisms. When food is depleted and they are ready to form sporangia, they form swarms. The [[amoeba]]e join up into a tiny multicellular slug which crawls to an open lit place and grows into a fruiting body, a [[sorocarp]]. Some of the amoebae become spores to begin the next generation, but others sacrifice themselves to become a dead stalk, lifting the spores up into the air.<ref name="Jacobson 2012"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kin |first1=K. |last2=Schaap |first2=P. |title=Evolution of Multicellular Complexity in The Dictyostelid Social Amoebas |journal=Genes |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=487 |date=March 2021 |pmid=33801615 |pmc=8067170 |doi=10.3390/genes12040487 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths=175px heights=175px>
File:Dictyostelium discoideum 03.jpg|''[[Dictyostelium discoideum]]'' is a microscopic organism. The cells can aggregate to form a [[Grex (biology)|grex]] or slug, and then to a [[sorocarp]] or fruiting body (shown) on a delicate stalk.
</gallery>

=== Protosteliida ===

{{main|Protosteliales}}

The [[Protosteliales|Protosteliida]], a polyphyletic group, have characters intermediate between the previous two groups, but they are much smaller, the fruiting bodies only forming one to a few [[spores]].<ref name="Fiore-Donno Nikolaev Pawlowski 2009">{{cite journal |last1=Fiore-Donno |first1=Anna Maria |last2=Nikolaev |first2=Sergey I. |last3=Nelson |first3=Michaela |last4=Pawlowski |first4=Jan |last5=Cavalier-Smith |first5=Thomas |author5-link=Thomas Cavalier-Smith |last6=Baldauf |first6=Sandra L. |title=Deep Phylogeny and Evolution of Slime Moulds (Mycetozoa) |journal=Protist |date=January 2010 |volume=161 |issue=1 |pages=55–70 |doi=10.1016/j.protis.2009.05.002 |pmid=19656720 }}</ref>

<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths=175px heights=175px>
File:Ceratiomyxa tunohokori01.jpg|''[[Ceratiomyxa]]'' is microscopic; each stalk is topped by only one or a very few spores.
</gallery>

=== ''Copromyxa'' ===

The [[lobosa]]ns, a paraphyletic group of amoebae, include the ''[[Copromyxa]]'' slime molds.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://slimemold.uark.edu/fungi/WebForms/NameDetailsForm.aspx?Action=Display&CancelScript=1&NameId=84A7E7E8-AFAB-434A-BB9E-E2907FD3A375&Key=84A7E7E8-AFAB-434A-BB9E-E2907FD3A375@StateID=&Sort=0&TabNum=2 |title=Species: ''Copromyxa arborescens'' M. Nesom & L. S. Olive |work=The Eumycetozoan Project Database |publisher=[[University of Arkansas]] |accessdate=June 26, 2010}}</ref><ref name="Brown Silberman Spiegel 2011"/>

=== Non-amoebozoan slime molds ===

Among the non-amoebozoan slime molds are the [[Acrasid]]s, which have sluglike amoebae. In locomotion, the amoebae's [[pseudopod]]ia are eruptive, meaning that hemispherical bulges appear at the front.<ref name="Brown Silberman Spiegel 2012">{{cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=Matthew W. |last2=Silberman |first2=Jeffrey D. |last3=Spiegel |first3=Frederick W. |title=A contemporary evaluation of the acrasids (Acrasidae, Heterolobosea, Excavata) |journal=[[European Journal of Protistology]] |publisher=Elsevier BV |volume=48 |issue=2 |year=2012 |issn=0932-4739 |doi=10.1016/j.ejop.2011.10.001 |pages=103–123|pmid=22154141 }}</ref> The [[Phytomyxea]] are obligate [[parasite]]s, with hosts among the plants, [[diatom]]s, [[oomycete]]s, and [[brown algae]]. They cause plant diseases like [[Clubroot|cabbage club root]] and [[powdery scab]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Neuhauser |first1=Sigrid |last2=Kirchmair |first2=Martin |last3=Bulman |first3=Simon |last4=Bass |first4=David |title=Cross-kingdom host shifts of phytomyxid parasites |journal=[[BMC Ecology and Evolution|BMC Evolutionary Biology]] |date=2014 |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=33 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-14-33|pmid=24559266 |pmc=4016497 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2014BMCEE..14...33N }}</ref> The [[Labyrinthulomycetes]] are marine slime nets, forming labyrinthine networks of tubes in which amoeba without pseudopods can travel.<ref name="TSUI_2009">{{cite journal |first1=Clement K. M. |last1=Tsui |first2=Wyth |last2=Marshall |first3=Rinka |last3=Yokoyama |first4=Daiske |last4=Honda |first5=J Casey |last5=Lippmeier |first6=Kelly D. |last6=Craven |first7=Paul D. |last7=Peterson |first8=Mary L. |last8=Berbee |title=Labyrinthulomycetes phylogeny and its implications for the evolutionary loss of chloroplasts and gain of ectoplasmic gliding |journal=[[Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution]] |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=129–40 |date=January 2009 |pmid=18977305 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2008.09.027 }}</ref> The [[Fonticula|Fonticulida]] are cellular slime molds that form a fruiting body in a "volcano" shape.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Deasey |first1=Mary C. |last2=Olive |first2=Lindsay S. |title=Role of Golgi Apparatus in Sorogenesis by the Cellular Slime Mold Fonticula alba |journal=Science |volume=213 |issue=4507 |pages=561–563 |date=July 1981 |pmid=17794844 |doi=10.1126/science.213.4507.561 |bibcode=1981Sci...213..561D }}</ref>

<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths=175px heights=175px>
File:Aplanonet3.jpg|The [[Labyrinthulomycetes|Labyrinthulomycete]] ''[[Aplanochytrium]]'' is a marine protist.
</gallery>