Re: Carnivorous fungi?

[Jack Park <***>]

A *single living cell* two meters across? Hope those puppies don't live 
around here...
Jack

Judith Rosen wrote:

> *For those with inquisitive minds...*
> ** 
> *This was an article I found during my wanderings around the internet, 
> researching carnivorous plants... It's full of concepts that could 
> easily be used to create the next X-Files movie... As Robert Rosen 
> would say, grinning widely, "Ain't life grand?"*
> ** 
> *Judith*
> * 
>
>
>   Slime mould
>
>
>       From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
>
> (Redirected from Slime mold 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Slime_mold&redirect=no>)
> Slime moulds
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Slime_mold.jpg>
> Aethalium of a slime mould (possibly /Fuligo 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuligo>/)
> Scientific classification 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_classification>
> Kingdom: 	Protista <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protist>
> Phylum: 	Amoebozoa <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoebozoa>
> Class: 	*Mycetozoa*
>
> Typical orders
>
> Protostelia
>    Protosteliida 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Protostelid&action=edit>
> Myxogastria
>    Liceida <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Liceid&action=edit>
>    Echinosteliida 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Echinostelid&action=edit>
>    Trichiida 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Trichid&action=edit>
>    Stemonitida 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Stemonitid&action=edit>
>    Physarida 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Physarid&action=edit>
> Dictyostelia
>    Dictyosteliida <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictyostelid>
>
> *Slime moulds* are peculiar protists 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protist> that normally take the form of 
> amoebae <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoeba>, but under certain 
> conditions develop fruiting bodies that release spores 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spore>, superficially similar to the 
> sporangia of fungi <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungus>. Although 
> cosmopolitan in distribution, they are usually small and rarely 
> noticed. There are several different groups.
>
> Most notable are the plasmodial slime moulds or myxogastrids, where 
> the feeding stage takes the form of a giant amoeba with thousands of 
> nuclei <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_nucleus>, called a 
> plasmodium. The very largest reach areas of up to two square metres, 
> the largest undivided cells known, and many have bright colors such as 
> yellow, brown, and white. Under dry conditions they may form resting 
> structures called sclerotia. Once produced, spores release 
> biflagellate or amoeboid gametes, which fuse pairwise to produce new 
> plasmodia.
>
> The cellular slime moulds or dictyostelids 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictyostelid> take the form of 
> individual amoebae, but under stress aggregate to form a multicellular 
> assembly called a pseudoplasmodium or slug. This migrates to a new 
> location, then forms into a fruiting body, usually with a stalk formed 
> from dead amoebae. Spores release new amoebae. Similar life-cycles are 
> found among the acrasids <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterolobosea>, 
> now known to be an unrelated group, and among the myxobacteria 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myxobacteria>.
>
> There are also several uninucleate amoebae, called protostelids, that 
> secrete stalks and develop into spores individually. It now appears 
> that they gave rise to both the myxogastrids and dictyostelids, 
> although they were considered unrelated based on rRNA. Comparison of 
> protein genes support a close relationship between the three groups 
> and place them among the Amoebozoa 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoebozoa>.
>
> Slime moulds are common objects of study. Dictyostelids are used as 
> examples of cellular communication and differentiation, and may 
> provide insights into how multicellular organisms develop. Plasmodia 
> are useful for studying cytoplasmic streaming. 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.
>
> Slime moulds were originally considered fungi by mycologists 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycology> and amoebae by zoologists 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoology>, respectively classified as 
> Myxomycetes (slime fungi) or Mycetozoa (fungus animals). Both names 
> are still used, but because they are not related to fungi the latter 
> has gained some precedence. Various other protists that form cellular 
> aggregates such as acrasids, Labyrinthulomycetes 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labyrinthulomycetes>, and 
> plasmodiophorids 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Plasmodiophorid&action=edit> 
> are traditionally included, but the formal taxon is now often 
> restricted to the true plasmodial slime moulds and their relatives.
>
> *
> ** 
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