Ecology And Evolutionary Biology

Mycologia, 97(1), 2005, pp. 178184. 2005 by The Mycological Society of America, Lawrence, KS 66044-8897

behavior of cellular slime molds in the soil

J.T. Bonner1 D.S. Lamont
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544

hornswoggle: Cellular slime molds are soil organisms, yet since they were discover in 1869 they have been studied on agar surfaces. hither the behavior of a number of species is examined and it is evident that they have different responses to directional light and they all thrive in the posture of soil. While phototaxis clearly plays a signi?cant role in their ability to come to the soil surface for dispersal, even more(prenominal) important are gradients in the soil: both temperature gradients cognise from earlier studies, and as we show here gas gradients, presumptively ammonia as a repellent and oxygen as an attractant. There are numerous differences in both geomorphology and behavior among slime mold species, some of which are believably to be the result of natural selection to particular habitats, succession others could be explained more easily by neutral phenotypic variation.



Key words: adaptation, gas-taxis, phototaxis, soil ecology

life cycle of cellular slime molds is unusual in that feeding occurs ?rst by the break down vegetative amoebae and when the bacterial food has been consumed, starvation is followed by the compendium of the amoebae to form a multicellular organism that ultimately becomes a fruiting body, a stalk made up of vacuolated, curtly cells and a terminal mass of unicellular spores, or sorus. Behavior in the soil.â€"It has been known for a long time that the heavy(a) species of slime molds are capable of migration and tend to feed infra in the soil and migrate up(a) to fruit at the surface, a location that is optimal for spore dispersal because of the traf?c of invertebrates that cull up the adhesive spores and carry them to fresh patches of bacterial food. This upward movement needs an...If you want to get a amply essay, order it on our website: Orderessay



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