How would you describe a slime mold?
any of various funguslike organisms belonging to the phylum Myxomycota, of the kingdom Protista (or the plant class Myxomycetes), characterized by a noncellular, multinucleate, creeping somatic phase and a propagative phase in which fruiting bodies are produced bearing spores that are covered by cell walls.
What is the difference between mold and slime mold?
Slime molds and fungi were previously categorized in the same group. So, this is a difference between slime molds and fungi. However, the key difference slime molds and fungi is their cell wall constituents. Slime molds have cell walls made of cellulose whereas fungal have cell walls composed of chitin.
What are the characteristics of Plasmodial slime mold?
Plasmodial slime molds are composed of large, multinucleate cells and move along surfaces like an amorphous blob of slime during their feeding stage. The slime mold glides along, lifting and engulfing food particles, especially bacteria.
What does a slime mold look like?
A slime mold spends most of its life as a lumpy mass of protoplasm, called a plasmodium, that moves and eats like an amoeba. It may be white, yellow, orange, or red. One very common slime mold, Fuligo septica, looks like dog vomit or scrambled eggs, from which it derives its common names.
What is an example of a slime mold?
The Myxomycetes (true slime molds) are characterized by a plasmodial stage and definite fruiting bodies. Other slime molds include Protostelia (minute, simple slime molds), Acrasia (cellular slime molds), Plasmodiophorina (parasitic slime molds), and Labyrinthulina (net slime molds).
Is slime mold smart?
Physarum and other so-called “acellular slime molds” (named for their many free-floating nuclei) are super gross, super cool organisms with no brain or nervous system—yet seem somehow capable of learning and making choices.
What are the characteristics of slime molds?
Slime molds have characteristics of both molds and protozoa . Under certain conditions, the slime mold exists as masses of cytoplasm, similar to amoebae. It moves over rotting logs or leaves and feeds by phagocytosis.
What are some examples of slime molds?
These have been assigned to one of three genera: Dictyostelium, Polysphondylium, and Acytostelium. Some species of cellular slime molds have been found in almost all parts of the world. Two good examples are Dictyostelium mucoroides and Polysphondylium pallidum.
What is an example of slime mold?
The Protostelia, which are microscopic slime molds. Nematostelium is an example. These were first described in the 1960s and are less well-known than the plasmodial and cellular slime molds. Like plasmodial or “true” slime molds, they form a multinucleate plasmodium .
How does slime mold move?
Slime mold moves very similarly to an amoeba, crawling towards food and growing as the cells ingest it. Slime mold cells prefer to live on upright structures, like trees and plants, and tend to grow upward until food is reached. They leave behind a trail dead cells as they travel.