1. Ardena Paul and Dustin Young
Slime Moulds
Ardena Paul and Dustin Young

2. Classification Slime moulds are independent amoeba-like organisms.
Slime moulds were once considered a Fungi.
There are two main types of slime moulds. One being Plasmodial slime moulds, and the other being Cellular slime moulds. The two slime moulds differ by very little and most of it is from their motile phase.
The color of these organisms varies from bright orange, red, yellow, brown, black, blue, white, or transparent.

3. Classification
In 1973, someone living in Dallas found a pulsating jelly like organism in his backyard. After scientists were called to the scene they named the new organism the Plasmodial slime mould.
Fun Fact: When the new life form was discovered, many people were frightened because of the movie The Blob.

4. Classifiction
Slime moulds are considered protists because they are motile like animals but some are unicellular.
Scientific name of Cellular slime mould: Dictyosteliida
Scientific name of Plasmodial slime mould: Myxogastria

6. Structure There are two main types of slime moulds.
These are the differences between them.
Plasmodial slime mould
Cellular slime mould
This slime mould takes the form of a flat, thin organism.
Cellular slime moulds take the shape like a slug. This is called pseudoplasmodium.
Plasmodial slime moulds do not have any cells.
They are made up of many cells.
They are made up of many cell nuclei structures

7. Structure
In times of a food shortage, slime molds fuse and stay together. The now connected slime mold organisms will move, eat, and reproduce together.
When the fused slime mold detects food it goes from a slug (cellular slime mould), or thin flat mass (plasmodial slime mould) into a different shape.
Both cellular slime moulds and plasmodial slime moulds are microscopic for most of their lives.
If a slime mould is cut up into pieces, those pieces will fuse back together.
Most slime moulds are eukaryotes.
Both slime moulds are microscopic for most of their life.

8. Habitat
Both Plasmodial slime moulds and cellular slime moulds like to live in shaded, cool, and moist places.
You will often find a slime mould on a rotting log, leaf litter, or on moist shaded soil.
A majority of slime moulds will be found on the ground in a forest.

9. Feeding Habits
Slime moulds feed through ingestion. They feed upon bacteria and yeast.
Slime moulds track their food by chemotaxis.
Chemotaxis is chemical gradient sensing. In this case folic-acid is what’s being sensed.

10. Reproduction at the End of Life
Reproduction occurs asexually in slime moulds, although sexual reproduction may occur. It occurs at the end of the slime moulds lifecycle. Stalks are created to support a sorocarp( bulb). The sorocarp is full of spores that get released. The spores have a copy of the genetic DNA from the previous generation. The spores are dispersed either by insects, animals, or air or water movement.

11. Reproduction at the Beginning of Life
When the amoebas emerges out of the spores, they can reproduce as well. The amoebas will go through a form of binary fission.
The cells will become completely independent.

12. Life Cycle
A Slime Molds lifecycle represents a protozoa at some points while at others it resembles a fungi.
The two types of slime moulds go through life slightly different.
The type depicted in this picture is a cellular slime mould or dictyostelids .

13. The Beginning Slime moulds begin their lives as spores.
The spores become germinated and amoebas emerge from the spore.
The amoebas begin to eat bacteria and plant debris.
At this time they also multiply (binary fission).

14. Aggregation Aggregation begins when food supplies are exhausted.
The starving cells will release a chemical that draws them together.
They form into streams of cells called pseudoplamodiums.
These strands come together to from an aggregation.
The strands will stick by secreting adhesives molecules and a slime cap that covers the cells.

15. Many Cells as One The mass of cells will now glide across the ground.
The mass will take a “slug” shape.
The slug will migrate towards high amounts of ammonium.
High amounts of ammonium = decaying organisms = foods

16. The End The slug will stop at a favourable stop.
The anterior cells will become the stalks of the fruiting bodies.
The posterior cells will climb up it and create a head to the stalk, filling it with spores.
The spores will be released, carrying the genetic DNA.
The cells that made the stalk will with away and die.

17. Bibliography http://www.mykoweb.com/photos/Slime_mold(ms-04).jpg
Pictures
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18. Bibliography Sites used: