9/25/2019

Slime molds Slime molds

cecirly.puig@usep.edu.ph
• Five phyla of organisms (we will discuss two) that are
not in the Kingdom Fungi, but Kingdom Protoctista
• Vegetative thallus –
– lacks a cell wall,
– amoeba like,
– phagotrophic, i.e. ingests food particles by
phagocytosis
– May be multinucleate = plasmodium
• Have primarily been studied by mycologists, found in
habitats of fungi, some produce fruiting structures
that resemble fungi

Slime mold phyla Dictyosteliomycota – cellular slime molds

• Dictyosteliomycota – cellular slime molds • Widely used in studies of eukaryotic cell

– Vegetative thallus – amoebae that aggregate to form development
pseudoplasmodium
– 3 genera, 50 spp. • Make transition from population of individual
• Myxomycota – true slime molds amoeboid cells to multicellular structure
– Vegetative thallus – plasmodium • Occurrence – widespread in forest soils, dung,
– 71 genera, 500 spp. decaying plant matter
• Feed on bacteria in soil as amoeboid cells

Dictyostelium discoideum life cycle Developmental changes

• When food supply becomes exhausted or
• Vegetative thallus – unicellular population reaches certain size, amoebae
amoebae that feed on bacteria enter a starvation period
by phagocytosis
• Amoebae undergo developmental changes
• Asexual reproduction – cell – Metabolic changes – shift from facultative aerobes
division to obligate aerobes
• Can form microcysts – form – Use endogenous reserves
thin cellulose cell wall & – Cell surface antigens change – cells become more
withstand unfavorable cohesive
environmental conditions – Certain amoebae secrete a chemotactic substance
- acrasin

1
 9/25/2019

Aggregation Aggregation
• Acrasin in Dictyostelium
is cyclic AMP, other
species produce other
substances
• Acrasin causes other
amoebae to migrate
toward the center of
production in pulsating
streams – aggregation
stage

Pseudoplasmodium Pseudoplasmodium
• Amoebae aggregate to form • Amoebae do not feed or
pseudoplasmodium (slug, grex) divide
• Transition from population of independent • If food is added, may be de-
cells to a multicellular structure aggregated up to a certain
• Pseudoplasmodium in D. discoideum is 1-2 point after which they are
mm long and moves along gradients of committed to development
temperature, light, humidity • As the slug migrates, it
• Is surrounded by a sheath of polysaccharide becomes polarized and cells
and protein, begin to differentiate
• Leaves a trail of slime as it migrates

Differentiation Culmination
• Two cytologically and biochemically distinct
types of cells are forming in slug • Slug migration ceases
• Prestalk cells – anterior portion (1/3) of slug and becomes globose
– Swell, form a cell wall, become vacuolate and • Prestalk cells form the
eventially die as they become stalk cells beginning of the stalk
• Prespore cells – posterior portion (2/3) of slug
– Form prespore vacuoles – involved in cell wall
synthesis

2
 9/25/2019

Sorocarp Formation of a Sorocarp

• Stalk cells are formed, prespore cells migrate
up the stalk
• Prespore cells form cellulose cell wall become
spores
• Structure formed is a sorocarp with spores in
the sorus (droplet containing spores) – not
enclosed by wall, not a sporangium
• Spores
– are uninucleate
– remain dormant
– Germinate to form an amoeba

Sorocarp Sorocarp
• Formation of sorocarp – for dispersal of spores
• Asexual reproduction occurs as a result of cell
division by amoebae before sorocarp
formation
• Ca. one third of amoebae lost in sorocarp
formation (produce stalk)
• Stalk is cellular

Sexual reproduction Macrocyst

• Not well understood
• Giant cells (zygotes) formed from fusion of
two amoebae (gametes)
• Large number of amoebae migrate to zygote,
secrete wall to enclose amoebae and zygote
• Zygote feeds on amoebae
• Other wall layers produced to form macrocyst
• Meiosis occurs in macrocyst
• Cytoplasm cleaves to produce uninucleate
amoebae
• Amoebae released through broken cyst walls
• Both homothallic and heterothallic strains are
known from different species

3
 9/25/2019

Macrocyst
formation

Myxomycota – true slime molds Habitats

• Produce a true • Commonly occur in cool, moist shady habitats,
plasmodium at some e.g. decaying logs
point in their life cycle • Can occur on lawns if weather is moist
• Plasmodium – • Have also been found on bark of trees and in
multinucleate mass of
protoplasm that feeds deserts
by phagocytosis • Feed on bacteria, protozoa, small pieces of
• Great variability in size organic matter
– some are microscopic, • Generally not of great economic importance
others may grow to
meters

Life cycle Spores

• Two amoeba-like vegetative phases
– Plasmodium
– Myxamoebae
• Complex fruiting structures – sporophores
• Few species have been cultured (dual
cultures) and grown through all stages in life
cycle
• Fewer have been grown in axenic culture
• Spores are haploid, spherical
• Thick walled with spines, teeth,
other ornamentation
• Cell wall composition not well
known – one report –
galactosamine polymer & melanin
• Can remain dormant (to at least
75 yrs)

4

Spore germination
• Cell wall either splits or small
pore is digested
• Germination produces
amoeba-like cells -
myxamoebae (one or several)
– or swarm cells – that have 2
flagella
• Myxamoebae and swarm cells
can be interconverted – when
water present, flagella are
produced
Sexual reproduction
• Plasmogamy occurs between
myxamoebae or swarm cells
(some species are
heterothallic)
• Must also be a critical mass
of cells in population
• Karyogamy occurs shortly
after plasmogamy to form
zygote (2n)
• Zygote feeds, can engulf
other myxamoebae, coalesce
with other zygotes
Plasmodium
• Phagocytosis of
particles
• Can absorb nutrients
• Nuclei divide in
synchronous fashion
• In mitosis, nuclear
envelope doesn’t break
down, no centrioles
9/25/2019
Myxamoebae
• Feed by phagocytosis of bacteria,
other small particles
• Divide by mitosis – dissolution of
nuclear membrane and
formation of centrioles
• If unfavorable conditions occur –
can encyst (form a cell wall) to
form a microcyst
Plasmodium
• Zygote forms plasmodium – longest lived
vegetative stage
• Variation in species –
– Size – microscopic to meter across
– Color – colorless, black, violet, red, yellow, etc
• No definite shape
• Move over surface engulfing particles
• Vein like network with viscosity differences in
cytoplasm
• Rapid cytoplasmic streaming
Sclerotium
• Unfavorable environmental
conditions can induce plasmodia
to form dormant structures -
sclerotia
• Hardened mass containing
spherules – cytoplasm and several
nuclei surrounded by cell wall
• Favorable conditions – germinate
to form plasmodia
5
 9/25/2019

Sporulation Sporophores
• Entire plasmodium differentiates to form
reproductive structures • In all sporophores, the multinucleate
cytoplasm is cleaved into many spores
• Environmental conditions trigger – moisture,
light, temperature, pH, exhaustion of food • Membranes are laid down around nuclei
supply • Cell walls are formed around cell membrane
• Sporulating structures = sporophores, 3 types • This differentiates a sporangium from a sorus
– Sporangium (pl. sporangia)
– Aethallium (pl. aethallia)
– Plasmodiocarp

Sporangia
• Most common type of
sporophore
• One plasmodium may form
many sporangia
• Parts of a sporangium
– Hypothallus – secretion of
plasmodium that is left on
substratum, base of the
sporangium, may be a thin,
cellophane-like secretion or
a crust of CaCO3

Parts of a sporangium Parts of a sporangium

• Stalk – supports • Peridium – outer
sporangium, may or
may not be present,
covering of
may be hollow or filled sporangium
with material • Ranges from delicate
• Stalks formed from membrane to tough
secretions of
plasmodium and are covering
acellular (in contrast to • May be impregnated
cellular slime molds) with CaCO3

6
 9/25/2019

Parts of a sporangium Parts of a sporangium

• Columella – an extension of the stalk into the
sporangium
• Capillitium – nonliving threads
that intermingle but are not
attached to spores
• May be attached to peridium
or columella
• May be ornamented
• Formed during spore cleavage
• Involved in dispersal

Parts of a sporangium Spores

• Spores – main function of sporophore is to
form spores
• Formed from a multinucleate mass of
cytoplasm – vacuoles form and fuse to form
membranes around nuclei, cell walls formed
in vacuoles – called cleavage
• Are uninucleate and diploid at first
• Meiosis occurs to form 4 haploid nuclei
• Three nuclei may disintegrate to form
uninucleate haploid spores
• In some, spore may contain more than one
nucleus – germinate to produce more than 1
myxamoebae

Other types of sporophores Other types of sporophores

• Aethallium – fairly large • Plasmodiocarp – similar
cushion shaped in appearance to
structure (does not plasmodium,
differentiate into plasmodial veination is
individual sporangia) retained, stalkless

7
 9/25/2019

Classification
• Myxomycota classified
on the characteristics of
their sporophores –
presence or absence of
capilltium, stalk, nature
of the peridium, etc.
• Many form brightly
colored sporophores