Slime molds

Slime molds (Myxomycetes - own slimes) belong to Amoebozoa. They therefore do not belong to fungi, as they have a completely different development cycle. About 1,000 species are known worldwide, but there are thought to be significantly more and new species are still being discovered. This is due to the fact that they are very small and few people specialize in their research. Their life cycle is complex, and generally only their fructification structures are known, a kind of fruiting body with spores, which are usually only about a millimeter in size. The vegetative phase of the life of slime has the character of amoeboid or flagellate protozoa. They are motile uninucleate myxamoebae or myxomonads with two flagella that live in cool, moist and shady environments, mainly in soil, rotting plant debris and decaying wood. These can divide and merge into tight clusters behaving as a single organism or form multinucleated slime-like formations capable of amoeboid movement (plasmodium).

From them, under certain conditions, especially if they run out of food or the necessary moisture, they form a fruiting body in the form of fruiting bodies of various types with spores - spores (see photo below). The fruiting bodies change color and shape during ripening until they finally burst when ripe, spores are released from them and spread to the surroundings, and the life cycle continues with the stage of mononuclear protozoa. If the plasmodium faces adverse conditions, it can also form a sclerotium instead of fruiting bodies, which is a hard formation in the form of which it will survive adverse conditions or the winter period.

Slime molds are "predators" - they feed by absorbing bacteria, yeasts, protozoa, fungal spores, plant pollen and particles of dead organic matter. It is reported that the plasmodium moves at a speed of several millimeters to several centimeters per hour behind food. Plasmodium excretes undigested food residues onto the substrate, and after crawling away, a snail-like trail is left behind. Although they have no nervous system, they show some signs of intelligence. They can find the ideal path for food, have spatial and temporal memory, are able to learn and are said to show a certain ability to make strategic decisions, and individual plasmodia can communicate with each other. Most types of slimes are cosmopolitan and spread through the air through insects. This means that there are more or less the same types of mucus all over the world. Their fruiting bodies are mainly found on plant remains, moss, rotting wood and live tree trunks. However, unlike fungi, fungi only grow on wood and do not change its structure. There are opinions that slimes are such unusual organisms that they came to earth from outer space with the fall of a meteorite. Rather, it is an interesting evolutionary line. Slugs have a simple structure, a primitive genetic code and a short reproductive period. Therefore, they are used in molecular biology, biochemistry, biophysics and genetics to study intercellular communication and the formation of cellular structures. They are also used in research on the effects of chemotherapy in the treatment of cancer.